Chapter 41

Before Departure.

Xu Wanchun had done her research.

Taking a boat to Hu City would take about 4–7 days.

The four of them were relatively lucky. Aside from the necessary port stops, the journey was only delayed half a day due to a heavy storm.

Other than that, the trip was smooth and uneventful.

When the weathered old steamboat, trailing thick black smoke, finally pulled into port, the passengers—whether government officials or lowly laborers—who had been crammed into such tight quarters for days, all rushed out to the deck in excitement.

Xu Wanchun and her group were no different. Even though none of them were prone to seasickness, once the initial novelty wore off, the days had truly been hard to endure.

Now that they could finally set foot on solid ground, they quickly packed up their luggage while chatting excitedly.

Especially Su Nan, who had been apart from her husband for half a year and missed him dearly. “…Peach Blossom, your master wouldn’t have failed to show up, right? After all, the boat did arrive earlier than expected.”

Xu Wanchun was helping Danggui put on her muzzle and replied without even lifting her head, “He’ll be here.”

Su Nan laughed at the little girl’s certainty. “You sound so sure.”

Xu Wanchun answered confidently, “Unless Master had a last-minute assignment, otherwise, he definitely would’ve been here waiting since yesterday.”

True enough. Su Nan knew her husband well. Still, being apart for so long, her mind couldn’t help but wander… Maybe she was just nervous.

“Shiniang, are you ready? If so, let’s get off the boat.” Since her mother was strong, Xu Wanchun handed her Danggui’s leash, just in case. She herself picked up the cage carrying Fuling.

Su Nan smoothed her hair and tightened the bundle strapped to her chest. “Ready, let’s go…”

=

Just as Xu Wanchun had confidently predicted.

As they reached the deck and looked out toward the land, they quickly spotted a familiar figure in olive-green army uniform amid the crowd—it was Cao Xiu.

Su Nan excitedly patted her young apprentice’s shoulder. “See him? Your master’s here! Looks good in uniform, doesn’t he? Oh—he spotted us too! He’s waving!” She then tiptoed and waved back toward her husband.

Seeing her shiniang about to be squeezed to the edge of the deck, Xu Wanchun quickly reached out to pull her back. “Shiniang! Slow down! Don’t fall off!”

Worried that Danggui might get trampled by the crowd, Xu Hehua picked the dog up into her arms after only a few steps out of the cabin.

Now seeing her daughter and her good friend being jostled around, she hurried to the outer edge of the crowd to protect them.

Fortunately, they had the good sense not to rush down with the very first wave of passengers.

Though it was still crowded, they managed to disembark smoothly.

Cao Xiu was already waiting below. After not seeing his wife for half a year, he was visibly overwhelmed. “Nan—cough, Comrade Su Nan, let me carry your bundle. Have you eaten? How was the journey? Did anything happen? Were you seasick…”

Normally so composed, he was now rambling so much they didn’t know how to respond.

Su Nan was patient, but the noise around them made her raise her voice a little: “Everything was fine. We’ll talk about the details later. We still have to get our luggage.”

Cao Xiu nodded right away. “The telegram said you had a lot of luggage. I’ve already arranged for a few tricycle carts.”

“Where are they?”

“Xiao Chen led them straight to the cargo hold to wait for us… Oh, by the way, Xiao Chen is a soldier in the communications guard. When the director heard I was coming to pick someone up, he specially borrowed him from the regiment…”

“Your director sounds like a good guy…”

“He is…” Cao Xiu replied, but then glanced back nervously. Seeing his young apprentice lagging a few meters behind, he immediately shouted, “Peach Blossom, what are you doing? Hurry up!”

“Coming!” Xu Wanchun shouted back, then turned to look at her mother, who kept glancing back.

She guessed her mother was reluctant to leave their hometown and comforted her: “It’s okay, Mom. We didn’t sell our house back home. We just lent it to Third Uncle. We can go back and visit when we have time.”

In the countryside, a house could fall into disrepair in just half a year without residents.

But selling the house wasn’t a practical choice these days, so after discussing it, mother and daughter lent it to their most honest relative, Third Uncle’s family.

They didn’t charge rent—just asked that he live there with their grandparents.

Xu Hehua snapped out of her daze and rolled her eyes at her daughter. “Oh, please. When do you even have the time? When Jingliang was at military medical school, he was so busy he barely touched the ground. You’re going to the same school, same program—how much freer do you think you’ll be? Don’t forget the direction your front door opens.”

That was a bit dramatic. Xu Wanchun couldn’t help but laugh. “My bad. Want me to stand here with you and look around for a bit longer?”

“No need for that either… Let’s go.” Xu Hehua put the dog down and followed Sister Nan and the others.

Just a moment ago, she had been a bit stunned—feeling light, unreal.

She, Xu Hehua, a peasant woman, had actually, at the age of 39, been brought to Hu City by that very boat she used to scoff at!

Suddenly, she felt quite bold!

=

They successfully retrieved their 20 bags of luggage.

And with the help of the carts Cao Xiu had arranged, loaded everything on.

Then the group headed straight home without delay.

Yes—Xu Wanchun and her mother already had a home in Hu City.

It was a long story.

To put it simply: four or five years ago, when Xu Wanchun decided which university she wanted to attend, she wrote to her senior and asked him to help buy a small standalone flat-roofed house with a yard, preferably close to the military medical university.

Why not buy a bigger, fancier house?

One, they couldn’t afford it. Two, historically, any residential property over 150 square meters could be forcibly leased out by the government.

If they bought a big building, then in the future, aside from the main hall and the east/west wings, the front and back buildings, pavilion, courtyard, attic—everything would be rented out.

Just imagining that many people crammed into one house was suffocating. Xu Wanchun didn’t want strangers living in her home.

So from the start, her goal was a 50–60 square meter standalone flat-roofed house.

But with such specific criteria and scarce supply, even with Cao Jingliang asking around and enlisting the help of their uncle who worked in Hu City’s public security, it took over a year to find one.

“…So this is our house?” After walking for about three to four li, the group finally stopped in front of a red-brick house. Xu Hehua looked around curiously.

The houses here were tightly packed—seven or eight rows, each with seven or eight homes lined up one after another.

Only the last two rows were two-story buildings; the rest were all single-story.

As children began gathering around curiously, Cao Xiu—who had already unlocked the door—quietly said, “This is it. Let’s move the luggage inside first.”

They weren’t stupid—this was the era of communal living.

Even though all their food was well-sealed and disguised in clothing, it was best not to attract attention.

So the group worked quickly, and within two minutes, they’d moved everything into the east wing.

After sending off the cart workers, Xu Wanchun handed out two candies to each kid, as courtesy, before preparing to shut the door.

“Hold up, I’m heading out for a bit,” said Xiao Chen, the guard, guessing the family probably had private matters to discuss. After drinking a bowl of water, he went out to look around.

Xu Wanchun was a bit surprised but didn’t ask much. She just smiled and said, “We’re eating lunch at a state-run restaurant later. Brother Xiao Chen, don’t forget to be back in time.”

The dark-skinned young soldier scratched his head and grinned, “Got it!”

Watching him leave, Xu Wanchun shut the door and returned to the main room.

Everyone was seated around the table, looking exhausted and sipping water. She quickly took a seat in the empty spot.

Cao Xiu had arrived a day early to wait for the boat. Since he didn’t want to leave and come back, he had hired two cleaning ladies to thoroughly clean the place.

The water they were drinking had been boiled the night before and stored in thermoses. Now, it was only slightly cooler than room-temperature boiled water.

Seeing his young apprentice approach, he immediately poured her a bowl and reminded her, “The water’s a bit cool.”

Hu City was still quite hot in early September, so the cool water was refreshing. Xu Wanchun, parched and overheated, downed the bowl in large gulps.

“Want some more?” Seeing her flushed cheeks, Xu Hehua quickly grabbed another thermos.

Xu Wanchun waved her off. “I’m good. Mom, give some more to Danggui and Fuling instead.”

Xu Hehua didn’t insist. As she poured water for the cat and dog, she said, “Then you sit and rest.”

At that moment, Cao Xiu took a folded document out of his pocket. “Peach Blossom, here’s the property certificate. Take it.”

Since it was difficult for the Xu mother and daughter to travel at the time of purchase, the house had been bought under Cao Jingliang’s name.

Xu Wanchun glanced at the certificate and then handed it to her mother for safekeeping. She then looked at her master and asked, “It’s hard to transfer ownership now, isn’t it?”

Cao Xiu smiled and nodded. “Yeah, the current policy doesn’t allow property transfers, unless it’s inheritance. Besides, your senior’s still in the borderlands. Even if it were possible, it’d have to wait until he returns.”

“No rush,” Xu Wanchun said easily. “Leaving it in his name is fine. Like you said, a standalone home draws too much attention. Right now, with me and Mom, you and Shiniang, and Grandma Wu—three households sharing one house—it’s just right.”

Of course, “three households” was a bit of an overstatement. Most of the time, it would just be the Xu mother and daughter plus Grandma Wu.

Shiniang would be living with Master on base and would only visit during holidays…

Cao Xiu, having already lived in Hu City for half a year and taken the time to learn the ropes, understood all the ins and outs.

Seeing his apprentice grasp the situation so quickly made him very pleased. “I think this is the best arrangement too. To outsiders, we’ll just say you’re Jingliang’s fiancée, staying here temporarily—not renting.”

If they said she was renting, they’d have to pay rent to the local street office. What a waste, considering they had paid over a thousand yuan for the house.

Xu Wanchun understood all the nuances as well and replied matter-of-factly, “I am Senior Brother’s fiancée.” Why not use such a perfect excuse? She wasn’t stupid.

Hearing this, the two mothers—who had been busy planning the room arrangements and figuring out what to plant in the yard—turned and scolded her in unison, “You shameless little brat!”