Chapter 40: Comparison

There are no secrets in the family area. That night, the news that Zong Shao had carried the feverish Lin Wei to the hospital and took two days off for it spread quickly.

Some people were envious, thinking that Zong Shao was loyal and good to his wife, and that Lin Wei was lucky.

However, others felt that Zong Shao was making a big deal out of it, saying, “Isn’t it just a cold? Does it really require such a big fuss to send her to the hospital? And he even took two days off for it, how useless.”

Gao Xiulian was one of those who thought Zong Shao was making a mountain out of a molehill.

But ever since the last time Zhou Jianhai came to her door and Zhao Feng yelled at her, she was now hesitant to confront Lin Wei or Deng Xiangyun directly. She only dared to gossip behind their backs.

Even then, gossiping didn’t feel satisfying. The main reason for this was that Gao Xiulian wasn’t very well-liked.

Before Lin Wei joined the military, Gao Xiulian didn’t have many friends, but Li Qin always supported her. Wang Fangli didn’t support her as much as Li Qin did, but she also didn’t openly oppose her.

Since the argument with Lin Wei, Li Qin stopped visiting Gao Xiulian’s house. Wang Fangli did come over a few times, but Gao Xiulian always felt that Wang Fangli’s words carried some mockery, and they had a few small arguments.

Wang Fangli was someone who liked to gossip, but she didn’t go too far. If she didn’t get along with Gao Xiulian, she wouldn’t visit her much. Gao Xiulian, feeling bored at home, could only go find other military wives, but none of them were as close to her or as supportive.

Although Gao Xiulian often said things that weren’t very nice and always wanted others to flatter her, the people who hung around her weren’t looking for close friends, just people to chat with, so the expectations weren’t as high.

Anyway, nobody was going to flatter her. If she said something unpleasant, people would argue with her or ignore her because they didn’t owe her anything, and there was no need to put up with her.

The last time Lin Wei and Gao Xiulian argued, the people sitting in her yard were those kinds of acquaintances.

Their relationship wasn’t bad, but it couldn’t be considered good either.

So, when Gao Xiulian made a big fuss about Zong Shao’s actions, saying he was useless, one of the military wives stood up and opposed her: “If a twenty-four-year-old deputy battalion commander is considered useless, then I really wish my husband were useless! By the way, what was Zhao’s rank when he was twenty-four?”

Zhao Feng was thirty-four this year and had been promoted to deputy battalion commander for two years. Among his peers, he was certainly successful in his career, but looking at the entire base, he could hardly be called a young achiever.

They say that thirty-one is the turning point for soldiers—if someone gets promoted to deputy battalion before thirty, they have an unlimited future. But if they don’t, it’s hard to say. Although Zhao Feng was already a deputy battalion commander, whether he could become a battalion commander before retirement was still uncertain.

On the other hand, Zong Shao, although his rank was lower, was already a deputy battalion commander at his age, which was better than Zhao Feng.

You have to know that at Zong Shao’s age, Zhao Feng was still only a deputy company commander.

Not to mention, Zong Shao had won first place in recent martial arts competitions. It was said that not only did their battalion leaders take notice of him, but even the division leaders were paying attention to him.

With all this, it was really laughable that Gao Xiulian dared to say Zong Shao was useless.

But Gao Xiulian didn’t understand any of this.

In her eyes, although Zhao Feng’s rank at twenty-four was not as high as Zong Shao’s, his current rank was certainly higher!

Moreover, although she hadn’t studied much, she still knew the saying “a child prodigy may not be a great adult.” Even though Zong Shao became a deputy battalion commander at twenty-four, who could say if he would become a battalion commander by thirty-four?

As for the leaders’ attention, Gao Xiulian considered it all to be empty praise. In her opinion, the way Zong Shao was acting would surely disappoint his superiors sooner or later.

Thinking of this, Gao Xiulian said, “I’m talking about Zong Shao’s immature behavior. He’s a soldier, and he takes time off just like that. With his attitude, do you think his superiors will be happy? And Lin Wei is so spoiled. It’s just a cold, but she needs him to take time off to take care of her. She’s so clueless.”

“What’s wrong with soldiers? Soldiers are also people, they also have families and lives of their own. If their wife is sick, what’s wrong with them taking two days off to take care of her without interrupting important work?”

The military wife asked, not waiting for Gao Xiulian to respond. She turned to the others and continued, “Let’s be honest. When you’re sick, do you want your husband to drop everything and take care of you, or do you want him to ignore you and let you fend for yourself? Personally, if my husband ignored me when I was sick, I wouldn’t stay with him!”

Although most of the military wives had accepted the fact that their husbands couldn’t take care of the family when they married them, that was only in situations where there was no choice. Like this time, Lin Wei was sick, but Zong Shao didn’t need to go to the battlefield, didn’t have any urgent tasks, and nothing important was happening in the battalion. Why shouldn’t he take time off to take care of her?

Seeing everyone nodding, the military wife looked at Gao Xiulian and said, “Some people just don’t know if they really look down on themselves or if they’re jealous. Other couples are living happily, but they have to go out and make comments, saying this shouldn’t happen and that shouldn’t happen, not realizing how bitter they sound!”

If it weren’t for Zhao Feng’s warning, Gao Xiulian would have definitely wanted to argue back. But there was no ‘if.’ To avoid being sent back to her hometown, the only thing she could do was leave in a huff.

After that, Gao Xiulian didn’t leave the house for several days.

When she finally recovered and went to gossip with her so-called friends, she found that whenever she brought up the matter, the others always had a tone of sarcasm, subtly implying that she was jealous of Lin Wei. It made her really angry!

She couldn’t understand why she would be jealous of Lin Wei.

In terms of men, her husband was a deputy battalion commander, while Zong Shao was only a deputy battalion commander, so she won.

In terms of children, she had two sons and a daughter, while Lin Wei only had two sons, so she won.

In terms of work, although she didn’t have a job for the moment, she had ruined Lin Wei’s previous job, so it was a tie—no, it was a win!

……

While Gao Xiulian was secretly talking badly about Lin Wei and getting slapped in the face, Lin Wei was focused on recovering her health.

Strangely enough, she used to be as strong as an ox, rarely falling ill from childhood to adulthood. She didn’t even get sick after getting soaked in rain during the spring. Yet now, in the scorching summer, a single rain had sent her to the hospital.

Although she had recovered from her fever that same day, her stuffy nose lingered for almost half a month, delaying her swimming lessons (taught by Teacher Zong).

After her nose cleared up, Lin Wei still felt fatigued and weaker than before. To ease her mind, she went to the hospital for a full-body check-up, and when the results came back showing everything was fine, she was finally reassured.

When Liu Dan heard about this, she advised, “They say sickness comes suddenly, and recovery is slow. You haven’t been sick in years, so you need to take good care of yourself. Don’t worry, eat well and rest, and in a couple of months, you’ll be fine.”

“Our hometown has a saying: small illnesses prevent big ones. I think you’ve been healthy for so long, and now that you’re sick, you just feel off everywhere,” Yang Yi said.

Zhao Li was confused. “Does that mean…?”

“Even if the meaning is slightly different, the point remains the same. And didn’t Lin Wei have a check-up? The doctor said she’s fine, so there’s no need to worry,” Yang Yi said.

Zhao Li thought that made sense and stopped talking.

Deng Xiangyun also said, “I’ve heard doctors say that people who rarely get sick might seem weaker, but their immune systems are actually stronger than those who get sick often. Many small ailments in our bodies are fought off by our immune system.”

Perhaps it was because Lin Wei felt reassured after the check-up, or perhaps it was truly as the saying goes, “the sickness fades like a thread.” After another half-month of rest, Lin Wei finally recovered.

By the time she was fully recovered, it was already the end of September.

Although Yazhou Island had a mild climate with little change in seasons, the temperature dropped slightly after September, and at least the nights weren’t as sweltering as before.

Just as the weather began to change, Gao Xiulian was assigned to work at the state-owned restaurant, specifically in charge of serving meals.

It was Zhao Li who told Lin Wei about this, because although their homes were separated only by a small path and they were technically neighbors, the two families had stopped interacting due to a past quarrel. That’s why Lin Wei hadn’t paid attention to Gao Xiulian’s recent situation.

As for how Zhao Li knew about it, that had to do with the cooperative relationship between the state-owned restaurant and other small work units.

Many of the units outside the residential compound were small, with the most staff being at the Military District Elementary School, which only had about twenty people. Other units had maybe seven or eight employees — some even had just one or two.

With units that small, it wasn’t feasible to hire dedicated cooks — the cost was too high. But these units mostly belonged to service sectors, where customers might arrive at any time. Giving employees 30 minutes to an hour for lunch was manageable, but shutting down for two hours so they could cook at home? That was impossible.

Still, employee meals had to be addressed. They couldn’t be expected to work without food. So some units approached the state-owned restaurant to arrange meal subscriptions for their staff.

Since all these units were under the military system, the employees and leaders all knew each other. And although the higher-ups didn’t have performance requirements for the state-owned restaurant, the restaurant’s leadership was ambitious. Providing meals to employees not only brought in revenue but also better served the public — only a fool would turn that down.

Thus, both sides quickly reached an agreement.

When other units saw this arrangement worked, they followed suit, asking the restaurant to supply lunch for their staff too.

Before partnering with these units, the state-owned restaurant only had a small storefront of about 40–50 square meters, with a counter at the entrance and six four-person tables inside.

After the partnerships began, the restaurant expanded again and again. Now it occupied three storefronts in a row, two of which had been combined to create a row of meal service windows and sixteen square tables inside.

Its main business split into two segments: one still offered stir-fry dishes as before, while the other operated more like a staff canteen, offering bulk-cooked meals. These were cheaper than the stir-fried dishes. Due to limited staffing, the canteen meals were only available to employees of partner units and not the general public — for now.

But once bulk meals became available, no one living in the residential area wanted to be the fool paying more for stir-fry. The food might taste a bit better, but it was much more expensive.

As a result, the only customers left for stir-fry were family members of visiting soldiers. Since they were staying in the guesthouse with no kitchen, and couldn’t eat in the canteen, they had no choice but to opt for stir-fry.

But this brought about its own problems. Over the past two years, many soldiers had complained up the chain, saying that the restaurant’s division of customer groups was inhumane.

There were also internal conflicts within the state-owned restaurant.

Like any industry, there’s a hierarchy of pride among chefs: those from large restaurants look down on small ones, and small ones look down on those who cook in bulk.

So when the restaurant decided to launch bulk meals, the head chef was unhappy. Management assigned the second-in-command to handle it — and it worked out.

Because the bulk meal business did well, leadership promoted the second-in-command to head chef of that area. But he still believed stir-fry was the restaurant’s foundation, so they didn’t remove the original head chef. That led to a situation with two power centers.

As the saying goes, “Two tigers cannot live on the same mountain.” With two head chefs, how could the kitchen remain peaceful?

Of course, it couldn’t. One felt the other was just someone who used to prep vegetables for him, now acting like a big shot after mastering a bit of cooking. The other felt, “So what if your cooking is better? No one even wants to eat your food anymore — why are you acting smug?”

The restaurant manager, who was skilled at smoothing things over, watched as tensions escalated year after year. Eventually, even the staff split into two factions. Since the stir-fry side had fewer people, they were clearly losing ground.

But the bulk meal side wasn’t happy either. Management was always trying to revive the stir-fry business and clearly favored that side, making them feel like unwanted stepchildren. As the saying goes, “It’s not poverty that’s resented, but inequality.” Over time, resentment built.

Caught between internal and external pressure, management finally gave in. They decided to restructure the restaurant: scrap the stir-fry, go all in on bulk meals. The bulk meals would now be available to anyone with money and ration tickets, not just employees from partner units.

In other words, the state-owned restaurant only retained its name — it had essentially turned into a base canteen.

After restructuring, the restaurant’s customer base expanded, but staff was insufficient, so two new positions were created. The Military Family Placement Office arranged for military wives to be hired.

And that’s how Gao Xiulian came to work at the restaurant.

As for Zhao Li, because the supply and marketing cooperative where she worked had partnered with the restaurant, she always ate lunch there. So on Gao Xiulian’s first day, Zhao Li saw her.

Zhao Li was extremely displeased. She believed that if it weren’t for Gao Xiulian’s sneaky tactics born of jealousy, Lin Wei would’ve started working at the military hospital already. Now Lin Wei was still jobless while Gao Xiulian had landed a new job — it was infuriating.

Lin Wei, however, was quite calm. The Placement Office usually prioritizes military wives based on how long they’ve been accompanying their husbands, assuming the hiring unit has no special requirements.

The window-serving job at the restaurant didn’t involve handling money or keeping records — just physical labor. So naturally, there were no special hiring criteria.

Although Gao Xiulian didn’t have a great reputation, she had no major faults, a clean record, and an early start accompanying her husband. It made sense that the job would go to her.

Of course, more importantly — though this job seemed respectable and easy (just moving your wrist all day) — in reality, it was anything but easy.

The restaurant now served three meals a day. Unlike the kitchen staff who needed to prep for hours, the meal window only got busy during meal times. So staff worked in two shifts. The meal window staff only had to work around mealtimes — about three hours each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner — so they worked from 5 to 8 AM, 11 AM to 2 PM, and 5 to 8 PM.

That may sound like flexible hours with breaks in between, but starting work at 5 meant getting up before 4. And getting off at 8 PM, then dealing with chores, meant getting to bed around midnight. Getting six hours of sleep was considered good.

And to improve efficiency, there were no chairs at the meal window. Imagine standing for hours each mealtime on just a few hours of sleep — how could you have the energy for anything else when you got home?

So, in Lin Wei’s view, the job seemed free and easy, but once you took it, it basically meant you’d lost all your personal time.

And that was exactly the case.

Though Lin Wei and Gao Xiulian didn’t interact much, they lived next door. Neither had jobs before, so they had a lot of free time and often ran into each other. Every time they did, Gao Xiulian would glare at her and throw out a sarcastic remark or two.

While Lin Wei never lost a verbal spat, she wasn’t some cockfighting rooster either. Too many of these encounters soured her mood.

But ever since Gao Xiulian started working at the restaurant, Lin Wei hadn’t run into her once. Going out without having to argue made Lin Wei feel refreshed, as if even the sky was brighter.

So Lin Wei sincerely hoped that Gao Xiulian could keep that job for a long, long time.