Chapter 51 : Ferry Ride

To verify her idea, Su Ranran planted many fruit seeds from Shuiqiao Brigade.

After ten days and a half month, many seeds had grown into seedlings.

The green color was like jasper. If she didn’t know what she had planted, she wouldn’t have recognized that it was just a common fruit tree found everywhere in Shuiqiao Brigade.

To study the composition of the soil there, Su Ranran spent a lot of time learning about soil science in addition to studying saline-alkali rice cultivation technology. She had read the book over and over again, so much so that she could know the content of each page even with her eyes closed.

She had a good memory. After drinking space water, it seemed that her body’s potential had been fully unlocked, and even her memory had greatly improved.

However, reading it herself and hearing someone else read it were very different experiences.

The man’s voice was deep and powerful. Even when reading the dull subject of soil science, his magnetic voice made people feel captivated by it.

Su Ranran stared at the man sitting across from her in a daze.

Golden sunlight shone through the window onto Zhang Gangyi’s face. His already deep and three-dimensional features seemed to be coated in a layer of golden light, exuding an aura of righteousness that no one dared to defy.

Her heart began to beat erratically again.

In the end, she didn’t even know what he was reading. Her ears were completely consumed by his magnetic voice.

The study sessions took place once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

Shen He was not as nervous, but Su Ranran felt something was wrong with her heart, as it would beat erratically from time to time.

The couple took a sleeper berth.

At that time, sleeper tickets were hard to come by. Not only were they expensive, but you also needed a certain status to buy them.

Thus, there weren’t many people in the sleeper car.

Two people had gotten on at their seats halfway through, and they arrived at the station earlier than them.

Including changing trains along the way, the couple took a total of two days and one night to arrive at Qingshi Railway Station.

Just when Su Ranran was worried about how to carry their large and small bags, she saw Shen He carrying several bags with ease.

Su Ranran: …

She started to suspect if her mother-in-law had packed foam in the bags.

The station was crowded, and Su Ranran didn’t dare to be careless, so she kept close to Shen He.

She knew that her appearance was attractive now, so she deliberately wore a women’s military uniform and kept her hat pulled low when going out.

She wasn’t sure if it was Shen He’s imposing presence or the effect of her outfit, but they avoided a lot of trouble along the way.

After leaving the train station, they took a bus to the Lianning County Wharf.

After the military reform, only those above the rank of army commander were allowed guards.

Therefore, even though Shen He was a deputy regiment commander, he was not assigned a guard detail like in the TV shows about the Anti-Japanese War.

Similarly, there was no privilege to drive a military vehicle to pick someone up when returning to the army on leave.

Su Ranran understood all this well and didn’t think there was anything wrong with taking the bus.

On the other hand, Shen He remained on high alert the entire way, as though he was ready to take her to the hospital if she felt unwell.

Fortunately, Su Ranran was in good spirits. Even though she hadn’t drunk the space water yet, she felt energized after getting off the bus.

Aside from her messy hair and wrinkled clothes, she didn’t look tired at all from the long journey.

The island where the troops were stationed was called Pingzhou Town, part of Lianning County.

Although it was a town, the area wasn’t very large, and only one regiment of troops was stationed there.

Though Pingzhou Town was a part of Lianning County, it was far from the mainland, and only two ferries ran each week.

The ferry schedule was fixed, and the trips usually ran smoothly unless there were strong winds.

It was three o’clock in the afternoon, the sky was a little dark, and the ferry had not arrived yet.

The place to wait for the boat was just a simple shed, and there were no stools.

There were already quite a few people standing under the shed, each with a lot of things, clearly having come to the county to purchase supplies.

Shen He led Su Ranran into the shed.

The two of them were too striking in appearance, and as soon as they approached, they attracted the attention of most people.

“Look, is that Deputy Regiment Commander Shen?”

Someone from the military family compound noticed them and couldn’t help but ask the person next to them in a low voice.

“That’s him.” Zhong Juhua confirmed.

Shen He got married late, and his wife didn’t follow him to the army after their marriage, so he lived in the barracks, not in the family compound.

It stands to reason that other family members should have never seen him, or have rarely seen him.

But Shen He was too famous in the army. He was not only handsome but also had outstanding abilities.

Moreover, there was only one regiment-level unit stationed on the entire island. Apart from the regiment commander and the chief of staff, he was the highest-ranking officer.

It was hard for them not to recognize him.

“Who is the person standing next to him?” Lin Qiulian asked curiously.

“Isn’t it his wife? Didn’t he say he reported to the army?” Zhong Juhua guessed.

She was the wife of the third battalion commander Fang Libin. She loved to visit neighbors and was well-informed.

Upon hearing this, several people couldn’t help but look at the slender figure in military green in the distance with curiosity.

They were too far to see clearly, only vaguely spotting half of the face hidden under the hat.

But even just half of the face was enough to make them amazed.

“My goodness, this Deputy Captain Shen really has high standards. No wonder he hasn’t married for so long.”

It turned out that he hadn’t wanted to get married, but rather had high expectations.

Look at that fair and tender skin, that delicate profile, and that slender figure. Even in a military uniform, her outstanding appearance couldn’t be hidden.

Standing next to Shen He, the two made a perfect match, a sight to behold.

“Isn’t his wife from the art troupe?”

Apart from the art troupe, they couldn’t imagine where they could find such a beautiful girl.

Su Ranran could not hear the whispers of the people around her. At that moment, she was staring blankly at the sea in front of her, and the nostalgia in her eyes grew stronger.

In fact, Su Ranran was very familiar with Lianning County.

Because in the tenth year after Shen He left in her previous life, she had lived in Pingzhou Town for nearly ten years.

So, she was very familiar with everything here. She knew exactly when the ferry would arrive and what might cause delays.

The sky grew darker, and dark clouds began to roll in. It looked like a heavy rainstorm was about to fall.

In the past, the ferry wouldn’t operate in such conditions.

But there were occasional exceptions.

Just like at this moment, a ferry slowly approached the dock.

The people under the shed had already picked up their belongings and were queuing to board the boat.

However, Shen He didn’t rush to pick up their things.

When the boat docked, other people boarded one after another, and Shen He carefully helped Su Ranran onto the boat. There were rows of benches around the boat, with the middle section left empty. Sometimes tractors or military vehicles would stop there to cross the sea. At this time, there were no other vehicles, so the middle section remained empty, and most people sat on the benches on either side.

At first glance, it seemed like there were no available seats.

Just as Shen He was about to lead Su Ranran to the cabin, someone suddenly waved at them.

“Deputy Captain Shen, there’s still room here. Bring your wife to sit here.”