Chapter 18

Everyone was whispering around, while Lu Zhiyao took the children to the place the military wife had mentioned, which specialized in selling daily necessities.

She had already bought the basic items, so now she picked up pots, bowls, pans, and some condiments.

Just arriving here, not cooking would definitely raise suspicion, so these things had to be bought.

The army provided some subsidies for newly arrived military wives, so all the things Lu Zhiyao bought weren’t particularly expensive.

In addition, she also bought some bedding and a mat, along with a pile of miscellaneous items—so many that she couldn’t carry them all home.

As she stared at the growing pile, wondering how to get them back, the young girl who sold her the goods called over two people.

“Let us help you carry these back. You must be new here, right?”

The young girl smiled warmly and had people help Lu Zhiyao carry the bulkier items home.

Problem solved, Lu Zhiyao quickly thanked her. “Thank you so much! Otherwise, I really wouldn’t have known how to get these back.”

“Being a military wife is not easy—it’s a hard job.”

Hearing those words, Lu Zhiyao’s mind drifted to her past life.

Back in her previous life, things were much the same. Being a military wife was tough, but the living conditions were better, and the army provided more subsidies.

So it wasn’t too hard to manage.

In this era, transportation and communication were inconvenient, which indeed brought many more challenges compared to her previous life.

After chatting a bit more and making sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, Lu Zhiyao took the rest of the items and headed home.

With help from the vendors, the large items were carried back. Her two children played in the courtyard while she made up the beds and set everything in order.

She also set up the stove and kitchenware.

By the time everything was settled, it was already afternoon. Smoke from cooking fires began to rise from surrounding homes, and Lu Zhiyao hurriedly took the two kids to buy groceries.

Near the family compound, there was a market specifically for military families.

When she arrived, many vendors were already packing up. She managed to grab some fresh vegetables at a bargain and bought a piece of meat.

Then she headed home with the children.

During the day, some of the military wives in the compound had already been gossiping—they all knew a new military wife had moved in.

Her husband held a high position, yet she and her children looked like they hadn’t had a proper meal.

One military wife happened to see Lu Zhiyao buy some meat and couldn’t help but wonder.

If Lu Zhiyao could afford meat, it meant she wasn’t doing too badly—so why was she so skinny?

So skinny, in fact, that they began to suspect whether Mu Qingyuan (her husband) might be mistreating her and the children.

During their gossip, some even speculated whether Mu Qingyuan wasn’t sending money home.

But now it seemed that might not be the case either.

Lu Zhiyao didn’t pay attention to the gossip. She simply took the kids home.

“This afternoon, since it’s our first day here, Mommy’s going to make you something delicious!”

She processed the meat she bought, boiled it to remove impurities, then sliced it and prepared a variety of seasonings.

She stir-fried a dish of twice-cooked pork.

She also made a vegetable soup and a dish of stir-fried shredded potatoes with green peppers.

As she cooked the pork, the aroma began to drift out of the kitchen.

Although her house was in a relatively quiet corner, there were still a few families nearby, and many actually preferred this quieter area.

The part of the compound near the entrance was more crowded, and people often argued—quite a noisy place to live.

As the delicious smell spread, many nearby picked it up.

Especially the children playing on the street outside.

Smelling the rich aroma of the meat, the kids couldn’t help but sniff eagerly.

“This meat smells amazing—I really want to eat meat now!”

“Me too! We haven’t had meat in so long—I’m craving it so bad!”

“Same here! I want it so badly!”

“When can we ever have something like that?”

“I’m going to ask my mom to cook meat tonight!”

…

The children chattered excitedly, but as it grew dark, they all headed home.

Some soldiers, on their way home, also caught a whiff of the delicious smell.

Opening the door to his home, one soldier grinned and said, “Honey, your cooking’s improved! I could smell it from outside!”

His wife, who was in the kitchen, came out.

“What did you say?”

“I said you must’ve been cooking meat—it smells really good. I could smell it even from outside.”

“Hurry and bring it out, the kids are drooling!”

The soldier was still smiling, but the military wife looked puzzled. “We only eat meat on Wednesdays, and today’s Monday. And besides, my cooking always smells the same!”

“But the food aroma outside really whets the appetite!”

Just then, their kids came home.

“Mom, can we eat meat tonight?”

“We smelled meat outside—it smelled so good. We’re drooling!”

Hearing that, the military wife opened the door and walked out into the courtyard, where she caught a waft of the rich aroma from afar.

She took a deep breath and stood on tiptoe to try and see where it was coming from.

She didn’t know which family was cooking, but the smell was incredibly tempting—so much so that she was practically drooling.

“Wow!”

She went back inside. “No idea who’s cooking that, but it smells amazing! As far as I know, no one around here usually makes food that fragrant… But today a new military wife did arrive.”

“I thought it was your cooking,” said the soldier, taking off his jacket. “Whose family is it?”

Back home, he finally relaxed and was curious.

“It’s Captain Mu’s wife. She brought along two scrawny kids. They looked so thin, like they hadn’t eaten enough!”

“Speaking of Captain Mu, hasn’t he been out on a mission for over three years now? No one’s seen him. Do you think something might have happened?”

As soon as she said that, the soldier glared at her. “How can you say something like that? Never say that—especially not to anyone else!”

“She’s got people to help take care of her now that she’s here. Let’s just mind our own business. You should buy some meat and cook it tomorrow.”

The wife pouted. She knew she shouldn’t have said it, but she was just curious and thinking out loud at home.

But if her husband said not to mention it, then she wouldn’t.

No need to bring disaster home because of careless words.

After all, trouble comes from the mouth!

Back in the kitchen, the military wife sniffed again in the direction of the delicious aroma and said, “Fine, fine, we’ll buy some meat tomorrow!”

Aside from their household, other nearby families’ kids had also caught the scent. When they got home, they begged their parents to make meat dishes too.

Those who qualified to live in the compound were mostly of captain rank or higher—only a few had special exceptions.

So their family conditions weren’t bad—they could afford to eat meat, just not every day. Especially in some households, one man’s salary supported an entire extended family, making things tight.

So when kids came home asking for meat, they were scolded:

“Meat? What meat?!”

“We only eat it every once in a while!”

“Can’t you stop coming home every time you smell something good, asking to eat meat?!”

The children, scolded and wronged, were left pouting and miserable.