Chapter 12: Emotionally Exhausted

The seafood supply station wasn’t very big, just about 60 to 70 square meters. Inside, several stalls were set up based on different types of seafood, with walking paths left in between the stalls.

However, the paths weren’t wide enough, and since the seafood had just been unloaded from the boats not long before Lin Wei arrived, it was peak time, and the supply station was quite crowded.

Lin Wei stood at the entrance for a while, but decided not to squeeze in with the crowd. Instead, she took the two children next door to the supply and marketing cooperative.

The cooperative was much larger than the seafood station, with two floors, each no less than 100 square meters. The counters were placed along the walls, and the space in between was left as a wide walkway.

There weren’t many people in the store at that hour, so the place felt a bit quiet.

But Lin Wei didn’t mind. She looked through the counters one by one, making mental notes of the things she needed to buy once her household registration was processed.

The first things to buy were clearly oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. They couldn’t keep borrowing from others—it didn’t sound good if word got out. Next would be cups, bowls, chopsticks, and plates. Zong Shao had prepared some, but not many—just enough for the family to use. If guests came over, they wouldn’t have enough.

She also needed to buy two bathtubs. Last night, the family had used enamel basins they brought with them to bathe. But enamel basins were small, didn’t hold much water, and made bathing very inconvenient.

There were also little things like matches, scissors, thermos flasks, towels, soap, and laundry powder—these all had to be bought gradually.

After browsing both floors, Lin Wei brought the two children to the fruit counter.

The island’s cooperative had a much wider variety of fruits than the one back in her hometown. At a glance, there were at least seven or eight kinds, if not more than ten.

Lin Wei recognized bananas and lychees. Some she hadn’t seen before but could guess—like coconuts, mangoes, and pineapples. For the rest, she had to ask the sales clerk, who explained that the all-red, spiky one was called rambutan, the yellow fruit was wampi, and the large one with a bumpy skin was jackfruit.

The sales clerk, knowing Lin Wei was a new military spouse just arriving from the mainland, introduced the fruits, saying:
“Rambutan tastes similar to lychee. If you’re used to eating lychee, you can buy some to try. Pineapple is a bit astringent if eaten directly, but soaking it in salt water makes it sweeter.”

Noticing the two boys staring at the mangoes near the wampi, she added with a reminder:
“Mangoes can cause allergies. When you take them home, it’s best to try a small piece first and make sure it’s okay. But if the mango is ripe, it’ll taste very sweet. As for wampi, it depends on whether you like sour flavors. People who like it really enjoy it. People who don’t will find the sourness unbearable.”

Lin Wei asked, “What about jackfruit? Does it taste weird?”

The sales clerk smiled. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t stink like durian. But if you haven’t had it before, it might take some getting used to. Still, it’s sweet. Want to try some?”

Lin Wei was tempted and asked, “Do these require ration coupons?”

“Fruit? No way. There’s plenty on the island,” the clerk—also a military spouse—couldn’t help but sigh, “If there’s one perk about being stationed here, it’s the endless fruit. Before I came along with my husband, back in the countryside I’d be thrilled just to get half an apple during the holidays. Now, I don’t even care about those—just eat what I couldn’t get back home.”

“Exactly. I was also looking forward to the island’s fruits before I came.” Lin Wei nodded and then asked, “Can I buy a little of each fruit? Just so the kids can try something new.”

The clerk readily agreed. “Of course! We’re neighbors, after all. Do you want a bit of everything, or just some types?”

“Skip the bananas—we’ve had those at home before. A little lychee, one mango—just want to try it first.”

“No problem.” The clerk picked out a medium-sized mango, weighed it, told Lin Wei the price, and handed it to Mingming with a smile. “Looks like he’s been staring at it for a while.”

“He’s never seen one. It’s new to him.” Lin Wei chuckled and told Mingming, “We’ll eat it when we get home—not now, okay?”

Mingming happily agreed, “Okay!” Then handed the mango to Ruier and said, “Touch it—the skin feels nice.” Then he smelled it. “And it smells really good.”

Ruier touched the mango skin too, smelled it, and nodded. “Yeah, it feels nice and smells good.”

While the kids were sniffing the mango, Lin Wei had the clerk weigh some rambutans, took two coconuts, and grabbed a small bundle of wampi. “This is enough for now. Let the kids try them. If they like them, I’ll buy more. Skip the jackfruit—it’s too much trouble to have you cut it.”

Jackfruit was large and had a lot of flesh inside, so the cooperative usually sold it pre-cut. But once it was cut, it didn’t keep well and dried out quickly, making it look wilted.

They usually cut jackfruit just before lunch or dinner, when there were more customers and the fruit could be sold quickly.

So the clerk didn’t push Lin Wei to buy any, just smiled and said, “Next time come around noon or evening—the fruit will be fresh.”

Lin Wei thanked her. “I’ll go back and finish this fruit first, then come again.”

She then asked the boys to say goodbye and left the cooperative to return to the seafood supply station next door.

By then, the crowd had thinned out a lot. There were still customers, of course, but the walkways weren’t as packed. Lin Wei entered with the kids.

Before entering, Mingming had been playing with the mango like a toy, but when he saw the lobsters and crabs on the stall, he lost interest in the mango. Standing on tiptoe, he stuffed the fruit into Lin Wei’s cloth bag and turned to his brother with a “shh” gesture.

The two boys had a certain unspoken understanding—without needing Mingming to explain, Ruier made a zipping gesture across his mouth.

Lin Wei noticed their little exchange, her lips curving slightly, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she smiled and asked the staff how the seafood was sold, and why the fish all looked so limp.

The older lady sitting behind the fish stall laughed when she heard that.
“Miss, you’re new here with your husband, right?”

Jobs weren’t easy to change these days, and there were only so many people in the family housing area. It wasn’t surprising that the woman noticed Lin Wei was new. But for her to know Lin Wei came from the mainland…

Lin Wei was puzzled. “How could you tell?”

The woman explained, “Sea fish are always like this. They can’t survive once brought ashore. These are still slightly alive because they were just caught. You’ll get used to it after staying here a while.”

Lin Wei suddenly understood—she had exposed herself just by speaking.

Although it was a bit embarrassing, now that she knew the reason, Lin Wei felt relieved. She picked a medium-sized, reasonably priced silver pomfret and asked the woman to weigh it.

While the fish was being weighed, Lin Wei glanced at the seafood on other stalls. There were many kinds, but most she didn’t recognize. The only ones she was familiar with were crabs and lobsters.

Shicheng also had lobsters and crabs, though they were smaller than the ones from the sea. But they looked similar enough that Lin Wei could identify them.

Truthfully, Lin Wei really wanted to buy a couple of sea crabs to try, or maybe some mussels and oysters—she’d heard they were delicious.

But she only had two seafood ration coupons, just enough to buy about 1.5 jin (750g) of seafood. Buying fish meant the whole family could have a taste. But if she bought crabs or oysters, half the weight would be shell—not worth it.

Better to wait. Once their household registration came through and they had more to spare, she could come back.

After buying the fish, Lin Wei went to the vegetable market. She planned to steam the fish, so she bought two scallions and a small piece of ginger. She also got some cucumbers and potatoes. Once she thought it would be enough for the day, she took the kids and headed home.

There were more people on the road by then. Several yards had people outside. Even though Lin Wei was new, knowing everyone was a fellow military spouse made her feel a bit closer to them—especially with Mingming and Ruier in tow.

Twins were already a rare sight, let alone ones like Mingming and Ruirui—who not only looked alike but were also exceptionally good-looking. Everyone just wanted to give their cheeks a pinch.

As a result, Lin Wei drew a lot of attention as she walked along, with an unusually high number of military wives greeting her. And of course, quite a few of them couldn’t resist pinching the twins’ cheeks as they chatted. Eventually, Mingming began covering his face every time he saw someone.

Wang Fangli had already greeted Lin Wei, and seeing Mingming like this, she asked curiously, “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s afraid someone will pinch his face,” Lin Wei replied with amusement, recounting what had happened earlier.

Wang Fangli could totally relate to the other wives. “Honestly, when I saw those two, I also wanted to reach out and pinch their cheeks.”

Upon hearing that, not only Mingming, but Ruirui also widened his eyes and quickly covered his face, which made Wang Fangli burst out laughing. “Don’t worry, Auntie won’t pinch your cheeks.”

As she spoke, she ruffled each boy’s hair before turning to Lin Wei with a more serious tone. “Oh right, Director Chen was looking for you just now.”

Lin Wei asked, “Which Director Chen?”

Wang Fangli replied, “Director Chen Wenfang—she’s the wife of Commander Song Demin, Lao Jiao and their group’s superior officer. She used to be the head of the Women’s Federation, but after the military hospital was built, she was transferred there to serve as the logistics director. Didn’t Zong Shao mention any of this to you?”

Before coming to the island, Zong Shao had briefly told Lin Wei about the family housing area, but mostly about his close comrades and the nearby neighbors.

He’d never mentioned the name or job of the commander’s wife.

But that wasn’t important. What puzzled Lin Wei was, “Why was Director Chen looking for me?”

“She didn’t say. Just told me to let you know to go to her place once you got back—she has something urgent to discuss with you.” At this point, Wang Fangli lowered her voice deliberately. “Did you somehow offend her?”

Lin Wei felt the question was a bit baffling. “I don’t even know her. How could I have offended her?”

Wang Fangli thought to herself: You didn’t know Gao Xiulian yesterday either, and yet you still managed to offend her pretty badly, didn’t you? But she didn’t say that aloud. She only said, “Well, Director Chen did look rather serious. Maybe think about whether you offended someone you didn’t know today?”

Lin Wei thought back to everyone she’d seen that day. Besides the military wives she met in the family area, there were only the staff at the supply store, the seafood distribution point, and the military dependents’ placement office. None of them seemed to match Director Chen’s description.

So she said, “I didn’t see Director Chen today. Do you know where she lives? I’ll go find her in a bit.”

Wang Fangli gave her directions and added a reminder: “She’s the commander’s wife. Be polite when you see her. Don’t argue with her.”

Lin Wei knew Wang Fangli meant well, but she couldn’t help feeling a little exasperated. She really wanted to say she wasn’t a firecracker that exploded at the slightest spark.

But in the end, she didn’t explain. She just sighed and said, “Got it.”

Exhausting.