Looking at the aluminum pot on the ground, burned yellow and black but still intact, she casually tossed it into the old goods storage and replaced it with a new one.

Two dirty thermos flasks—hmm, these could be swapped for new ones too.

When Li Guifen came over again, she brought Feng Xia along. Seeing the pot and thermoses, she nudged Feng Xia happily.

“See? Once cleaned, doesn’t it look brand new?”

Feng Xia smiled and nodded. “If I didn’t already know these were yours, I’d have thought they were just bought.”

Gu Xiaoxi simply smiled without responding. She fetched some water and rinsed the ground.

“Xiaoxi, little sister, I have a cotton coat stained with ink. Can you get it clean?” Feng Xia suddenly asked.

Gu Xiaoxi nodded. “Yes, I can. If you have any other clothes, bedsheets, or anything else to wash, bring them over! The sun is out today, so we can dry them properly. I also have a well here.”

Feng Xia hadn’t planned on washing her bedsheets yet—she usually did that before the new year. But hearing Gu Xiaoxi’s suggestion, she immediately went home to fetch them.

She usually disliked washing large items, but now that someone was willing to help, she was more than happy to let them.

Seeing Feng Xia preparing to wash her bedding, Li Guifen, who had nothing else to do, also decided to take apart her quilts and bring them over for washing.

Gu Xiaoxi glanced toward her new product display hall, then grabbed a bundle of hemp rope.

She had picked this rope up from the roadside on her way back from the recycling station. Now, it would serve perfectly as a clothesline.

Her courtyard was small, but there was a patch of unused land beside it with trees on both sides. She tied one end of the rope to a tree, stretched it across to another tree, secured it tightly, and then looped it back to strengthen it.

This way, the entire rope was used up, and a drying area was ready!

When Li Guifen and Feng Xia arrived and saw it, they couldn’t help but nod approvingly.

“This is perfect for drying quilts and sheets.”

“You can hang your washed clothes here for now—it’ll save time,” Gu Xiaoxi said while drawing water to help soak the laundry.

Feng Xia smiled. “Good idea. I was just thinking of taking the big items to the school field to dry.”

Gu Xiaoxi was truly thoughtful!

The three of them laughed and chatted as they washed the clothes, the atmosphere warm and lively.

Gu Xiaoxi washed the cleanest, so they eventually divided the work: the stronger Li Guifen fetched water from the well, Gu Xiaoxi handled the first wash, and Feng Xia rinsed.

They worked with enthusiasm, laughter filling the air, and their bond quickly grew stronger.

Soon, a few other military wives heard the commotion and joined in, making the small courtyard even more bustling.

When it was time to dry the clothes, Gu Xiaoxi discreetly used her air-drying technique, speeding up the drying process for the clothes and quilts.

After they finished, Li Guifen went home and returned with a basket of vegetables and two eggs. Feng Xia also brought some potatoes, a bundle of greens, a handful of peppers, and two eggs.

“Xiaoxi, these are from our own garden. Just a little something for you.”

Gu Xiaoxi originally wanted to refuse, but realizing she didn’t have many vegetables at home, she accepted.

However, she immediately turned around and brought out a few apples and tangerines to share with the two sisters-in-law.

Li Guifen shook her head repeatedly. “Xiaoxi, fruit is too precious. We can’t accept this.”

Feng Xia nodded in agreement. “Yes! We just took your tangyuan and pumpkin cakes the other day.”

Gu Xiaoxi smiled. “It’s just reciprocity. Nothing is too precious. If I didn’t like you both, I wouldn’t even offer!”

Just as Li Guifen and Feng Xia were feeling touched, a mocking voice suddenly came from outside the courtyard.

“Isn’t this just a case of treating people differently? You sure know how to make it sound nice!”

Gu Xiaoxi turned toward the voice and immediately frowned.

When Li Guifen saw that the one spouting nonsense was Liu Meihua, she was instantly furious. “We’ve been too kind to you, and now you think you’re somebody! With that foul mouth of yours, anyone who hears you would feel sick. Instead of going out to find your old lover today, you came here to stir up trouble?”

Liu Meihua froze for a moment before suddenly lunging at Li Guifen like a madwoman.

“Who are you saying is looking for an old lover? I’ll tear your mouth apart.”  

Li Guifen wasn’t afraid at all and immediately fought back.

Gu Xiaoxi wanted to stop them, but she couldn’t react in time and grew anxious.

Feng Xia, however, calmly pulled her aside and said, “Don’t worry. They’ve been arch-enemies for years. But trust me, your sister-in-law Guifen won’t be the one at a disadvantage.”

Gu Xiaoxi was worried that the two of them would hurt themselves, so she quickly moved the small stools and basins out of the way.

The fight was intense—they were pulling each other’s hair, yanking clothes, and even landing occasional kicks.

Gu Xiaoxi was genuinely afraid they’d get injured in her home, so she shouted, “Political Commissar!”

At that moment, both women immediately stopped fighting. They straightened up and even tidied their clothes.

Then, they realized they’d been tricked. There wasn’t a single sign of the political commissar nearby.

Feng Xia couldn’t hold back her laughter and burst out giggling.

“That’s enough, don’t overdo it. Liu Meihua, why is your mouth always so foul? We didn’t provoke you, we didn’t say anything to you, yet you just had to come and stir the pot.”

Liu Meihua was furious—she had just lost control of herself.

They were all military families in the same compound, so why did Gu Xiaoxi only give fruit to Feng Xia and Li Guifen?

Those two were just country women, yet they were forming their own little clique and treating her differently. Just thinking about it made her uncomfortable.

Li Guifen was even angrier than Liu Meihua. She snorted and said, “Liu Meihua, stay away from me in the future. Every word I said just now was the truth, and you know it. If you push me too far, you won’t get away with it!”

Liu Meihua’s heart skipped a beat, but she still stubbornly retorted, “If you push me too far, you won’t get away with it either.”

With that, she left in a huff, full of resentment.

Gu Xiaoxi was a bit confused. She didn’t understand why these two were so hostile toward each other.

Feng Xia seemed to read her thoughts and explained, “Liu Meihua’s family is from the county, and she’s always looked down on military wives from the countryside. But when Sister Guifen first joined her husband in the army, her husband outranked Liu Meihua’s. She couldn’t accept it, so she started secretly targeting Sister Guifen. When Sister Guifen was pregnant with her first child, she had a premature birth—and that was because of Liu Meihua…”

Realization dawned on Gu Xiaoxi.

It was also obvious now that Liu Meihua didn’t like her either.

Could it be because Lu Jiansen outranked her husband?

But there were plenty of officers in the military district who outranked Liu Meihua’s husband. Her husband was only a deputy company commander. Above him were company commanders, battalion commanders, regiment commanders, deputy regiment commanders, division commanders, and the political commissar—so many people ranked higher than him!

Li Guifen thought for a moment before saying in a somewhat subtle tone, “Xiaoxi, let me give you some advice. Battalion Commander Lu is a good man—not only capable but also upright. According to my husband, his military career has a bright future. You have to hold on to him tight!”

“Before you arrived, plenty of women had their eyes on Battalion Commander Lu! Liu Meihua even tried to set him up a few times, but he turned them all down.”

Feng Xia nodded in agreement. “That’s right. And there’s also Battalion Commander Xiao’s wife—I heard that Ding Lanjing wanted to introduce her sister to Battalion Commander Lu, and even Battalion Commander Xiao wanted to set up his own sister with him…”

While Gu Xiaoxi was still processing this information, Li Guifen continued, “Not to mention, quite a few women from the cultural troupe had their eyes on Battalion Commander Lu too! If he weren’t so firm in his principles—dealing with persistent women even more harshly than men—there’d be even more women trying to get close to him.”

Gu Xiaoxi: “…”

Was Lu Jiansen really harsher on women than on men?

She hadn’t noticed that yet.