Chapter 3

“Comrade Li Fang.”

Chen Yuan stopped and introduced the smiling girl in front of them. “This is my wife, Su Wan.”

Li Fang’s face turned pale in an instant. She looked at Chen Yuan, then at Su Wan. Her eyes reddened, a mist of tears quickly gathering, making her delicate and sorrowful expression look even more pitiful.

Even though she had seen many beautiful girls before, Su Wan couldn’t help but admire her. Girls in the 1980s were truly natural beauties.

She had already seen quite a few striking faces on the street earlier—and they all looked unique. Not like in the modern era, where everyone had similar-looking faces that gave her facial blindness at times.

“Hello, I’m Su Wan,” Su Wan said, extending her hand.

Li Fang looked at her white, plump hand and hesitated for a moment before reaching out to shake it. “Hello, I’m Li Fang. I work as a nurse in the unit.”

“Sorry, we’re off to do some shopping now,” Chen Yuan nodded at Li Fang, clearly not intending to make small talk.

Li Fang watched their backs as they walked away, her lips trembling as though she wanted to say something but held it back. Tears welled up in her eyes, as if she had a thousand things to say, yet didn’t know where to begin.

Su Wan jogged to catch up and asked Chen Yuan, “You two seem close?”

Chen Yuan’s steps paused. His handsome face turned stern. “Can you stop imagining things? Comrade Li Fang and I are just acquaintances who nod in passing.”

His sudden seriousness startled Su Wan.

She was abruptly reminded that this was 1982, just after the “Strike Hard” campaign. Affairs and improper relationships were still treated as serious offenses.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it,” Su Wan apologized.

Chen Yuan didn’t respond. His face remained cold as he strode ahead.

Following behind, Su Wan let out a quiet sigh.

Their relationship clearly wasn’t great. Should she start considering divorce?

As a modern woman, her first instinct wasn’t to fix the marriage—it was how to make money in the 1980s. After all, the reform and opening-up period was the perfect time to earn a fortune.

She wanted to ride this wave and become a self-employed entrepreneur, buy a few courtyard houses in Beijing, acquire some land in Shanghai and Hainan, and wait for them to appreciate in value.

As for the marriage, Su Wan honestly didn’t care that much.

No matter how handsome a man was, he couldn’t compete with the scent of money. If her good-looking but cold husband continued to show no affection and only dislike toward her, then getting a divorce sooner rather than later would be better for both of them.

Of course, she wasn’t going to bring it up immediately.

Whether they were compatible or not—she’d give it a few months. If things truly didn’t work out, she’d bring up the divorce.

With that thought, Su Wan’s steps felt much lighter.

Chen Yuan took her to buy some meat buns from a street vendor. Then they stopped at two state-run stores. Using grain coupons, they bought 35 jin of rice, spent two meat coupons on 2 jin of meat, and also bought pots, bowls, and utensils. At the market, they got a few jin of cabbage and some vegetable seedlings before heading back to their meeting spot.

They took the truck back to the military compound. Chen Yuan didn’t say a word to Su Wan the whole way, but he also didn’t let her carry anything heavy. He carried the rice and all the other supplies into the house himself, then left again after putting everything down.

Watching the couple return together, the wives from the family building were gathered eating sunflower seeds and gossiping.

“Looks like Captain Chen’s wife really turned into a different person overnight. I wonder if she’s just pretending or if she really came to her senses.”

“She was so lazy before. Captain Chen is tall, handsome, and ambitious—how did he end up with a wife like that?”

“Most of these wives are arranged by their families. In rural areas, that’s just how things are. Judging by her looks and manner, she probably came from a decent family. Otherwise, Captain Chen’s family wouldn’t have agreed.”

Su Wan was unaware of the gossip. And even if she knew, she wouldn’t have cared.

By the time they returned from the county, it was already close to 9 p.m. Su Wan took a bucket and went outside to wash yesterday’s laundry. Summer clothes washed quickly, but it still took her nearly twenty minutes.

After hanging the clothes on bamboo poles, she headed to their vegetable plot.

There were five small patches of land in the garden—someone had probably used them before. She just needed to loosen the soil and plant the seedlings.

She didn’t dare slack off, fearing the heat would kill the seedlings. So she grabbed a hoe from the front door and started digging.

The patches weren’t large. Last night, she had already watered and loosened the soil, so after over an hour of digging, she began planting.

She didn’t really know how to grow vegetables—only remembered what she had seen online before. She dug holes a few inches apart and planted the seedlings one by one. Whether they’d survive or not… she left it up to fate.

While Su Wan was dripping with sweat in the vegetable garden, the other wives found her even more puzzling.

One older wife finally couldn’t sit still anymore. She walked up and said, “Captain Chen’s wife, you can’t plant pepper seedlings like that…”

Seeing Su Wan clearly didn’t know how, she simply crouched down and started planting while giving her instructions.

They were all part of the same family compound. Though they hadn’t liked how lazy Su Wan used to be, it was ultimately Chen Yuan who bore the brunt of it—not them. Helping out a little wasn’t a big deal.

Su Wan followed along and learned. When they finished, she gratefully said, “Thank you, Sister Wei. You’ve really been a big help.”

“It’s nothing. My husband’s last name is Wei—he’s in the same unit as your man. He’s the second battalion commander.”

“Then I’ll call you Sister Wei. I’m Su Wan, feel free to call me by name,” Su Wan said sweetly, then added, “I didn’t know how to act when I first came here, and I wasn’t sure how to get along with everyone… I might’ve made a fool of myself.”

“That’s no big deal. We’ve all been there. Honestly, we should’ve been more thoughtful. Moving into the compound must’ve been overwhelming—you needed someone to talk to.”

What she said wasn’t entirely sincere.

When Su Wan first arrived, a few of the wives did try to be friendly. But she had coldly shut the door in their faces. After several rejections, everyone decided she was lazy and unpleasant to deal with, and stopped bothering.

Now that she seemed normal again, Sister Wei was relieved.

After all, they all lived in the same building. They were bound to see each other often—it was better to get along.

Sister Wei was kind and helped her finish planting the vegetable seedlings.

As they were parting ways, Sister Wei hesitated, then said earnestly, “Xiao Su, don’t mind me saying this… but your husband’s a company commander, and you two just got married. It’s tradition here to host a meal for everyone—you get what I mean, right?”

Su Wan, of course, understood. She nodded, “I’ll talk to Chen Yuan about it when he gets back. I’ll definitely need help from you and the other sisters—I’m not sure I could manage everything by myself.”

Seeing that Su Wan didn’t get angry and agreed readily, Sister Wei finally relaxed. “Your husband is capable. He’ll definitely rise through the ranks. As his wife, you should help maintain good relationships. You’re a team—his success means you’ll enjoy a good life too.”