Chapter 4 – Almost Mistook Huo Zeye for a Creep and Beat Him Up…

No longer needing to get up early to catch the subway, no longer worrying about being late to clock in, Chu An slept soundly until she woke up naturally.

After getting out of bed, she took money and tickets from the drawer of the dressing table and counted them several times. Then, with the casual extravagance of someone flush with cash, she grabbed a few bills and stuffed them into her pocket.

Once she had changed clothes and freshened up, Chu An grinned and opened the door.

At that moment, rustling sounds came from next door, and two small heads peeked out from the doorway.

Huo Ran and Huo Mian were actually both quite capable of taking care of themselves. Without needing Chu An’s help, they had already washed their hands and faces. Especially Huo Mian, who had tied her hair into a crooked little ponytail sticking straight up, secured with an elastic band.

When Chu An saw that messy hairstyle, she couldn’t help but let out a soft “pfft” of laughter.

Curling her lips into a smile, she asked: “Did Big Brother tie your hair for you?”

Hearing that Chu An’s tone was still as light and cheerful as the night before, the two cubs, who had been tense and uneasy all morning, both relaxed their stiff backs.

Catching the smile in Chu An’s eyes, Huo Mian nodded slowly. “Big Brother tied it.”

Huo Ran, looking at the messy tuft of hair on his sister’s head, felt a pang of guilt and kept silent.

Chu An’s smile deepened. “Very cute. Sister-in-law will fix it for you.”

She reached out and fiddled with the messy little tuft, carefully undoing the hair that was nearly tied into a dead knot. Her fingers moved deftly, looping the hair twice, and soon a neat and pretty little ponytail stood straight up.

The tugging on her scalp suddenly eased, and Huo Mian cautiously reached up to touch her head. Two sweet dimples slowly appeared at her cheeks.

“Hair… doesn’t hurt anymore!” Huo Mian said in a daze.

Chu An raised an eyebrow at the two cubs. “Well? My handiwork’s not bad, right?”

Huo Ran glanced at his sister’s hair a few times and, in the end, had to admit that the bad Sister-in-law’s hair-tying skills really were better than his.

But when he caught the faintly smug, spirited look on the bad Sister-in-law’s face, it was as if he’d been burned—he quickly averted his gaze and gave only a low “Mm” in reply.

Awkward kid.

Chu An muttered that to herself in her heart, clapped her hands, and stood up. “Let’s go.”

Huo Ran looked up, puzzled. “Where to?”

“To the canteen for breakfast, of course.” Chu An patted her pocket with the same air of casual wealth.

She led the two children out the door.

The house Huo Zeye had been assigned to was near the sea. Golden sunlight spilled across the fine sand of the nearby beach, and the blue ocean shimmered with dancing light.

The residential compound was home to military families. Walking down the little stone path, Chu An saw that the gate of neighbor Li Xia’s courtyard was open. Li Xia was hanging a quilt on a bamboo pole in her yard, and from a few of the stone houses nearby, thin smoke curled up from the rooftops—it seemed breakfast was being made.

Seeing Li Xia look up just then, Chu An politely greeted her. “Aunt Li.”

Li Xia instinctively nodded in response, but it was only after Chu An, hand in hand with the two children, had walked off into the distance that she froze in shock—

The upturned-nosed wife of Regiment Commander Huo had actually greeted her first?

Chu An was completely unaware of the shock she had caused earlier. She simply led the children straight to the canteen. It was breakfast time, but there weren’t many people there. The dining area was furnished with simple long tables and benches, and only a few people sat scattered about.

Most of the food at the serving counter consisted of the usual fare—steamed buns, plain rice porridge, pickled radish. Taking advantage of the fact that she had money in her pocket, Chu An generously ordered three bowls of millet porridge, added a side of sour and spicy shredded potatoes, and even bought three oyster cakes to have later as snacks on the way to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

The golden millet porridge paired with the appetizing potatoes was enough to make anyone’s mouth water just by looking at it. The two cubs ate their porridge on their own with spoons, but they couldn’t bring themselves to eat the oyster cakes, which had been fried to a crispy golden brown on both sides. When the craving became unbearable, they merely held them up to sniff the aroma.

On the way to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Chu An noticed their behavior. “You don’t like oyster cakes?” she asked.

Oysters, like durians, were something some people enjoyed while others found the taste strange.

Huo Mian quickly shook her head. “I like them…”

They liked them, yet didn’t eat them?

It only took a moment for Chu An to figure out their concern. “Don’t be afraid you won’t get to eat them next time. If you like them, we can buy them every day from now on.”

After all, your big brother gives me money every month.

Huo Ran and Huo Mian swallowed hard at her words, but still nibbled at the oyster cakes in tiny bites.

Chu An didn’t press them further. She turned down another path, following her memory until she found the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

The road to the cooperative was an unpaved dirt path, covered in sand and dust. The building’s walls were a faded gray-white, weathered and mottled after years of sea winds and sunlight.

Stepping inside, the first thing that met the eye was a tall wooden counter. Behind it, shelves stretched up to the ceiling, filled with all sorts of goods. The counter near the entrance sold daily necessities like toothpaste, toothbrushes, towels, and soap. Farther inside, most of the counters stocked food, cigarettes, alcohol, and stationery.

Chu An headed first to the counter for daily necessities. But after scanning the area, she didn’t see a sales clerk behind it.

She turned to the man standing near the adjacent hardware counter. “Comrade, may I ask where the clerk for the daily necessities counter has gone?”

The young man in a Zhongshan-style work uniform heard her voice and immediately put on a deliberately warm, ingratiating smile.

“Comrade Chu An, you’re here.” he said. “Sister Wang next door just happened to get an upset stomach and went to the restroom. Tell me what you need, and I’ll get it for you first.”

As he spoke, his gaze swept over Chu An more than once.

Chu An met his eyes calmly.

She remembered—this young man was named Sun Zhipeng, and he was one of those who had once traded flirtatious looks with the original owner.

Although Sun Zhipeng wasn’t as handsome or appealing as Huo Zeye, he made up for it with a sweet tongue and constant compliments. The original owner, being vain and craving flattery, had found his attentiveness just right for feeding her ego.

But of course, their interactions had never gone beyond exchanging glances and ambiguous words. Anything deeper was absolutely out of the question.

The original owner wasn’t completely foolish—if she had actually gotten involved with these men and the affair came to light, she could forget about ever spending another cent of Huo Zeye’s money.

Still, Chu An couldn’t understand the original owner’s thinking.

What use were pretty words and empty praise? Could empty flattery ever smell as good as real money?

Besides, Chu An might not have many talents, but she did have a knack for judging people.

Men like Sun Zhipeng, no matter how attentive and flattering they seemed to the original owner, actually—put bluntly—saw her as nothing more than a cheap flirt they could tease and make dirty jokes about for fun. None of them truly took her seriously.

Faced with Sun Zhipeng, Chu An kept her expression upright and serious, her tone all business. “Alright, Comrade, then please help me get three toothbrushes, three cups, six towels, three washbasins, four tubes of Two Peacocks toothpaste, two bars of Shanghai sulfur soap, one jar of clam oil, and one jar of Friendship Snowflake Cream.”

Sun Zhipeng hadn’t yet recovered from her proper and righteous demeanor before he was hit by the barrage of items she rattled off, leaving him momentarily dazed.

Other clerks at nearby counters, who had been propping up their chins to watch the “drama” between the two, found their attention suddenly diverted.

“Comrade Chu, why are you buying so many basins and cups all of a sudden?” someone asked.

“Oh, the ones at home are old. I’m just stocking up and replacing them.” Chu An replied casually.

She had no intention of using the basins and towels that the original owner had used, and the two cubs didn’t even have toothbrushes or clean washbasins. She might as well spend the money to replace everything.

The others nodded, half understanding, half not.

Sun Zhipeng had originally planned to slip in a risqué comment, but when he met Chu An’s clear, upright gaze, he shrank back and suddenly didn’t dare to say anything inappropriate.

Something about today’s Chu An felt different from the flirtatious woman she used to be.

Chu An took the things she wanted and openly thanked Sun Zhipeng.

At the left, Aunt Wu—who was buying pastries and was the type to never miss a chance for gossip—was disappointed at not having witnessed any sparks between Chu An and Sun Zhipeng. Smacking her lips in regret, she turned instead to tease Huo Ran and Huo Mian, who were standing nearby.

“I think your Sister-in-law’s buying so many things because she’s planning to have a baby!” she said. “Once she has a baby, she won’t want you anymore.”

The words happened to be overheard by Chu An, who had just turned her head.

Before the children could respond, she lifted the daily necessities in one hand and, with the other, pulled Huo Ran and Huo Mian into her arms without giving them a chance to resist. “Impossible. Ran Ran and Mian Mian are the most adorable babies ever. Sister-in-law will never stop wanting you.”

Huo Mian blinked slowly in her arms.

Sister-in-law was hugging them… and calling them the most adorable babies?

Aunt Wu, caught out by Chu An’s direct rebuttal, gave an awkward laugh. “I was just joking with the kids.”

“Is that so?” Chu An asked evenly.

Some words might sound like jokes, but anyone with eyes could tell they were meant to provoke. With this many people in the cooperative watching, Aunt Wu glanced at Chu An’s cool, detached expression, pursed her lips, and didn’t dare say anything more.

Chu An turned to the children. “Let’s go home.”

Huo Ran gave a barely audible “Mm.” while Huo Mian, still holding her oyster cake, nodded vaguely.

As they retraced the path they had taken earlier, Huo Ran kept his head down, kicked aside a small stone in his way, and stared at Chu An’s back for a while before suddenly striding forward.

“You’re not happy?” he asked.

Hearing that Sister-in-law might be unhappy, Huo Mian tightened her grip on her oyster cake. After a few seconds of hesitation, she hurried forward on her short legs and held it out toward Sister-in-law.

“Eat.”

Whenever she ate something tasty, her mood would improve. If she gave her oyster cake to Sister-in-law, and Sister-in-law ate it, wouldn’t that make her happy again?

Seeing his sister’s action, Huo Ran hesitated briefly before resolutely offering his own oyster cake. “F-for you.”

Chu An looked down in surprise at the two oyster cakes reluctantly offered to her.

Her pretty eyes softened with a smile. “I’m not unhappy.”

Huo Ran frowned. “Then just now…”

“I just don’t like hearing anyone make that kind of joke with you.” Chu An explained. “From now on, if anyone says something like ‘we’ll throw you away,’ don’t take it to heart.”

Chu An thought that the reason these two little villain cubs would one day grow up so insecure, so paranoid, cold, and unfeeling—aside from the original owner’s vile behavior—was also partly due to people like this, who kept planting ideas in their heads about being abandoned and discarded.

Huo Mian, seeing that she truly wasn’t unhappy, let her dimples faintly appear again at her cheeks.

Huo Ran, relieved, belatedly recalled what Chu An had said earlier in the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

“Ran Ran and Mian Mian are the most adorable babies.”

“Sister-in-law will never stop wanting you.”

When had that bad Sister-in-law become so mushy?

The more he thought about it, the redder his face grew. And just at that moment, Chu An flashed that beautiful smile again. “You two eat the oyster cakes yourselves. Thank you, Ran Ran and Mian Mian, for caring about me\  ”

Huo Ran turned his head awkwardly. “We don’t care about you.”

“Alright, alright.” Chu An winked at him. “You’re not caring about me—you’re just being picky.”

Catching the teasing tone in her words, Huo Ran puffed up like a little chick with ruffled feathers. “I’m not talking to you anymore!”

With that, he puffed out his cheeks and turned his head to the side.

Chu An simply curved her lips into a smile and led the two cubs back home.

Once home, she set down the basins and containers she had bought from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, intending to fill a new basin with water to wash her hands and wipe down her arms, neck, and back.

The sun had grown hotter on the way back, and the summer sea breeze had left her back damp. Now, with the sweat evaporating and salt clinging to her skin, she felt sticky and uncomfortable.

Carrying the filled basin into the master bedroom, Chu An took off her clothes and, without a bra, wrung out a towel and awkwardly reached behind her to wipe her back.

The two cubs were playing in the yard when she heard the sound of the door opening outside. She quickly called out loudly: “Don’t you two go wandering toward the beach!”

But instead of the children’s voices replying, she heard footsteps approaching the master bedroom—steady and firm, not the sound that a pair of cubs could make.

A thief? A creep?

Chu An’s alertness spiked. Without time to put on a bra, she hastily pulled on a shirt.

When the master bedroom door was pushed open, she grabbed her basin and flung the water straight at the intruder’s face, shouting loudly—

“Pervert! Take this!”

The man wiped the water from his face, inhaling deeply in a slow, deliberate breath.

Then, in a cold voice, he asked: “The man who’s got a marriage certificate with you can’t come into the master bedroom?”

Chu An’s mind stalled for a moment. She quickly set down the clothes hanger she had been about to throw.

Oh no.

She had almost mistaken Huo Zeye for a creep and attacked him.