Chapter 18: Commander Lu’s Wife, Delicate and Precious

“That’s wonderful! Where is she?” Chen Chunrong hadn’t expected such a pleasant surprise.

Ran Jinnian replied, “She’s in my hometown, Pupil Ping Town. I need to send her a telegram first, to see if she’s willing.”

Chen Chunrong looked worried that the other party might refuse. “Tell her that as long as she’s willing to come, the military district will provide accommodation.”

He clenched his teeth and added, “And three yuan every month on top of that.”

The military district was in a remote area. Many young people couldn’t endure the hardship, so even if they came, they tried to find ways to leave.

“Alright.”

Ran Jinnian nodded.

After saying a few more words, Chen Chunrong finally left the family compound.

Once he was gone, Zhou Hongying, Ling Fengxia, and Qin Shulan were standing at the door. “Xiao Ran, that was Director Chen from the elementary school just now, right?”

Ran Jinnian had just cleared the teacups. “Sisters Zhou, Qin, Ling, come in and have a seat.”

The women were full of curiosity. “What did Director Chen want with you?”

Ran Jinnian didn’t see the need to hide it. “Director Chen wants me to be a teacher at the elementary school.”

“Ah!” The three women gasped. They hadn’t expected that just after Ran Jinnian arrived at the military district, the elementary school director would come to her personally.

Having a high education really does give you an advantage.

“Being a teacher is great—easy work and good pay,” Ling Fengxia said enviously.

Qin Shulan nodded in agreement. “You can’t just want to be a teacher and get it. My children will have to study hard in the future if they want a good job.”

Indeed, Qin Shulan had a long-term vision.

“Sisters, I’m heavily pregnant and about to give birth. How can I be a teacher?” Ran Jinnian laughed.

“Ah!”

The women were shocked again.

Ling Fengxia’s mouth dropped open. “You refused?”

Such a good job, and she didn’t want it—how foolish!

Ran Jinnian poured tea for each of them, but didn’t go into details. “It’s inconvenient for me to teach while heavily pregnant, and it won’t be long before I give birth anyway.”

She didn’t mention that she had a friend she could recommend for the position.

The women thought being pregnant wasn’t an issue. Back in the village, when they were heavily pregnant, they not only had to work the fields but also climb mountains to cut firewood. Teaching, on the other hand, was light work and not tiring.

“After you have the baby, your mother-in-law will come to help, right? Once your confinement period is over, she can take care of the child, and you can go back to work,” Zhou Hongying said. She thought teaching was a respectable job, and besides, it was personally offered by Director Chen—missing this opportunity would be a pity.

Ran Jinnian smiled. “I’ll have the child first and see about the rest later.”

Her child was her top priority.

Seeing that she wasn’t interested in the job, the women chatted for a few more minutes before leaving.

Once they were gone, Ling Fengxia muttered, “Young people don’t understand. By the time she’s ready, all the teaching positions will be filled, and she won’t even have a chance.”

Qin Shulan added, “Commander Lu’s wife is delicate and precious. She might not be able to stay in the military district for long.”

She wasn’t exaggerating; many spouses who came to accompany soldiers left after a short time.

“Don’t talk nonsense. This is the couple’s first child, of course it’s important. And with Jinnian’s education, even if she can’t become a teacher, she’ll find another good job later,” Zhou Hongying said.

Ran Jinnian didn’t care what they said. Chen Chunrong’s visit reminded her of her good friend Xiao Haili.

Xiao Haili married young, to a worker at the town’s textile factory. Three years after their marriage, her husband died.

Her in-laws accused her of being unlucky, and sent her back to her natal home.

Xiao Haili’s family had many siblings. As the only daughter who had been married, she endured a lot of disdain upon returning home. Before Ran Jinnian got married, Xiao Haili had visited her several times. Although she never spoke about her own hardships, Ran Jinnian knew her life had been miserable.

Fortunately, Xiao Haili didn’t have children. If she could come to the military district to teach, she wouldn’t have to endure bullying at her parental home.

Sending a letter would be too slow; only a telegram would be fast enough.

She wished she could send it immediately, but she knew she had to wait until Lu Jinyuan returned so he could send the telegram.

The morning passed this way. Ran Jinnian was now anemic and didn’t dare to eat recklessly.

Her space had everything she needed, so she didn’t worry about food, though the abundance of supplies made it hard to decide what to eat.

She steamed rice, made pigeon soup in her space, and stir-fried bean sprouts.

After the meal, Ran Jinnian resumed knitting shoes. While knitting, the baby in her belly kicked her.

She realized she had been knitting for an hour; one shoe was already more than halfway done. She quickly put down the needles to rest.

The afternoon passed slowly.

Outside the window, apart from the laughter of children, a few shouts occasionally echoed.

Ran Jinnian napped for over an hour. Upon waking, she glanced outside and then knocked on the neighboring door. “Sister-in-law, may I borrow your hoe?”

Zhou Hongying was tidying the house and saw Ran Jinnian. “You want to tidy up your yard, right?”

“Yes, sister-in-law. I’m planning to plant some vegetables.” Since Ran Jinnian was at the family compound, she wanted to prepare for daily life.

In the yard, she could grow leafy greens and garlic sprouts.

“Wait a moment, I’ll get it for you.” Zhou Hongying quickly handed her the hoe and a basket of green peppers.

Ran Jinnian pushed it back. “Sister-in-law, this is too much.”

“These are from my own garden. You can use them with your vegetables,” Zhou Hongying said, pushing it forward again.

Ran Jinnian looked at the vegetables in Zhou Hongying’s yard. “Your garden grows vegetables really well.”

“Once your yard is tidied up, it will only get better,” Zhou Hongying said.

Seeing Ran Jinnian so delicate, Zhou Hongying advised, “Don’t overwork yourself while pregnant.”

“I know. I’ll return the basket and hoe later.”

Ran Jinnian took the hoe and the basket into the yard.

In fact, Lu Jinyuan had already cleared the weeds, but new ones had grown. She removed the new growth and loosened the soil.

Ran Jinnian grew up in town. She had two older brothers and was the youngest, cherished by her mother and brothers.

She had never done much farm work. After marrying Lu Jinyuan, she had lived in town.

She dug for a while. Fortunately, the yard wasn’t large; otherwise, it would have been exhausting.

She dug a bit, rested a bit, and despite the effort, she hadn’t finished.

Still, she was content. She looked at everything before her and thought it would be nice to plant some flowers later—they would make the yard beautiful when in bloom.

But she didn’t dare plant flowers now, as it might be seen as a capitalist extravagance.

Instead, she planted garlic sprouts along the corners and various vegetables on both sides.

If Lu Jinyuan could set up a trellis, they could grow string beans and cowpeas. That way, at least on the surface, they wouldn’t lack vegetables.

They could also raise a couple of chicks to have eggs daily.

“Sister-in-law! Sister-in-law!”

Ran Jinnian was just thinking about this when someone called outside.

She hurried out and saw Zhou Xiangyang carrying two large bags, smiling awkwardly at her. “These are the things Commander Lu asked me to buy.”