Chapter 20

Li Cuihua and her husband were known in the village for being honest and upright, often getting bullied by others and never arguing back. Now that her daughter-in-law was standing up for her, Li Cuihua felt quite moved.

At the same time, she also felt she’d been too weak.

She opened her mouth and said, “Mom has money too. If you want to eat anything, just take it. I’ll buy it for you.”

Su Wan smiled and linked arms with both mothers. “You both came all this way to see us. How can I let you spend money? Let’s hurry up and buy everything before Comrade Wang Bin gets impatient.”

She ignored the shop assistant and began selecting sweets.

She took four one-jin packs of White Rabbit milk candies, three jins of assorted bulk candies, five jins of biscuits, ten jins of sunflower seeds, and a good amount of roasted goods and dried fruits. Only then did she go to pay.

The shop assistant calculated the total and said, “That’ll be thirty-six yuan and eighty-seven cents.”

Su Wan quickly unzipped her jacket, pulled three large-denomination bills out of her backpack, and counted out some change to hand over.

Seeing how she didn’t even flinch at spending that much, the shop assistant gave her another look.

Although factory workers were indeed paid better — some earning over a hundred yuan with overtime — for shop assistants like them, their monthly wage was only about thirty yuan.

“Comrade, how much is the Chunghwa cigarette?”

Su Wan looked up and saw the Chunghwa cigarettes inside the glass case.

“The white pack is six yuan a carton, the red one is seven,” the shop assistant replied without even raising her head.

“I’ll take two cartons of each. What about Moutai liquor?”

“Seventy yuan a case. You can also buy individual bottles. Right now there’s a promotion — buy a case, get a bottle free; buy two cases, get three bottles.”

“I’ll take two cases.”

At that time, Chunghwa cigarettes weren’t easy to come by. Being in Guangdong Province made it a bit easier, but Moutai — though available if you had money and connections — was considered very expensive. Only officials would usually buy it to drink.

Su Wan was extremely excited inside — Moutai at this time was definitely authentic. She planned to stock up. Of course, she would store it in the countryside house where it wouldn’t be so conspicuous. Keeping it here would attract too much attention for no good reason.

Seeing how generous she was, the shop assistant stood up and became much more enthusiastic.

She opened the cigarette cartons and took out four packs, then brought out two bottles of Moutai. When they got back to the car, Su Wan handed them to Wang Bin.

“Comrade Wang Bin, this is for you and Comrade Xu Weiguo. It’s nothing valuable. I meant to give it to you both before the New Year, but something happened with Chen Yuan and I was delayed. I hope you won’t mind.”

“Sister-in-law, this is too generous…”

Wang Bin didn’t dare accept it, but Su Wan placed it beside him directly. “Comrade Wang Bin, I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. I truly appreciate what you and Comrade Xu Weiguo have done for me. If you don’t accept this, I’ll feel embarrassed.”

“Well… okay then. Sister-in-law, just don’t be so polite next time. These things are nothing.”

He really did think his sister-in-law was overly kind. They had already enjoyed so many good meals at her place — every time the braised meat was piled high, and it sold for such a good price. How could they keep taking so much from her?

Chunghwa cigarettes and Moutai — such luxury items — he’d save them to bring home and honor his father and grandfather.

Zheng Aifang was curious why her daughter had given such expensive gifts to Wang Bin, but she didn’t say anything — she wouldn’t embarrass her daughter in public. Li Cuihua was even less likely to comment, being someone who never wanted to cause trouble. Besides, her daughter-in-law had just explained that they’d received help from the other party.

Back at the military compound, Wang Bin helped carry the items to their room and then left after saying goodbye.

Seeing all the Moutai Su Wan had bought, Chen Yuan couldn’t help but ask, “Why did you buy so much Moutai?”

“To let you enjoy it now and then, or to use for hosting guests.”

Su Wan sat beside him and said, “Chen Yuan, I think this liquor smells amazing. I want to buy more. You don’t mind, do you?”

“You decide. Just don’t overdo it — drinking can lead to trouble.”

After saying that, the tips of his ears turned red.

Seeing that, Su Wan couldn’t help but recall what had happened before — she also blushed.

Alright then.

She admitted that getting drunk could indeed lead to trouble. If the original Su Wan hadn’t married Chen Yuan, her plan had been to take the college entrance exam and start a business — no one could stop her from making a fortune in the 1980s.

“I bought four cartons of cigarettes. I gave two packs and a bottle of Moutai each to Comrade Wang Bin and Comrade Xu Weiguo. The rest is for you. I noticed you smoke — if you’re going to smoke, you might as well have the good stuff. The deal was buy two cases and get three extra bottles, so I bought two.”

She was just reporting everything to him, and Chen Yuan didn’t think much of it.

It was her own money, after all. However she wanted to spend it was her business. Even before she earned money, he had never restricted what she bought — now, he was even less inclined to interfere.

“When Mom leaves, I’ll have her take a few bottles home for Dad and my brother to try.”

She then leaned into Chen Yuan’s embrace.

He quickly reached out and caught her by the hand. “Careful.”

Smelling the faint soap scent from him, Su Wan looked up, her cheeks flushed.

Worried about his injuries, she asked urgently, “Did that hurt?”

Chen Yuan shook his head. “No. I’m not made of tofu.”

“Should we invite the senior officers over for a meal?” Su Wan asked.

“I don’t think anyone has done that in previous years. Better not — we’ll just get talked about.”

“But you still need to bring cigarettes and liquor to the political commissar and the regiment commander. After your injury, the compensation was something they applied for on your behalf, and they even went all the way to Ming Province to visit you.”

Hearing how considerate she was, Chen Yuan felt genuinely happy.

He couldn’t help but reach out and pinch her cheek. “Let’s go in a few days.”

“Do what you think is best.”

Su Wan was just giving a suggestion — how he handled things was up to him. She wasn’t going to meddle too much.

While the couple talked in their room, the two mothers were cooking outside.

Face burning, Su Wan suddenly pulled his hand away. “I’m going to help with the cooking. I bought some pork offal. I’ll teach Mom how to make braised offal so they can make it themselves when they go back.”

“Wanwan…”

Chen Yuan called out to her, a bit awkwardly. “Mom said you told Big Brother to go to the provincial hospital to check his back injury. Thank you!”

“No need to thank me. We’re family. Your big brother is like one of my own brothers. I want both our families to live well.”

After she said that, the tips of Chen Yuan’s ears grew even redder.

He gave a soft “mm.” “No matter what, I really appreciate it.”

Speaking of which, Su Wan turned back and added, “If your brother’s back doesn’t improve at the provincial hospital, we can bring him here to Guangdong. This is an economic development zone — the medical facilities are even better. Chen Yuan, when I said I want a good life, I meant it.”