Chapter 27 Making an Oven

After leaving Song Tiezhen’s office, Huo Changzheng didn’t go straight home. Instead, he headed to the training grounds to find Cheng Hao.

“Boss, you needed something?” Cheng Hao noticed Huo Changzheng’s signal and followed him to stand under a nearby tree, a bit concerned. “Is there something wrong with my training?”

“No, it’s going well. Keep up the good work,” Huo Changzheng said, then cleared his throat and continued, “I just wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“That oven at your place—did you make it yourself?”

“…” Cheng Hao was stunned for a second before he realized what he meant—the oven he had made under Fang Qianqian’s verbal guidance. Thinking of how Lin Suisui also liked baking, he immediately understood. “You’re planning to make one for sister-in-law too?”

“Yeah. I’ve never seen one of those things before—tell me how it works.”

“Sure. Basically, it’s a metal box with two heating rods installed at the top and bottom. The key part is the control switch, which lets you adjust the temperature—different pastries need different baking temps.”

Cheng Hao had put a lot of thought into making that oven to make Fang Qianqian happy. Now that his boss needed one, he was more than willing to pass on his experience.

Huo Changzheng was pretty handy himself. After getting the instructions, he returned to his office to study the idea further. The materials he had requested earlier had already been prepared by Fang Weiguo.

Meanwhile, Lin Suisui had just returned from the cafeteria and was pulling out Doubao’s winter clothes, checking to see which ones could be altered or extended to fit for another season.

There was no sewing machine at home, so it would be slow going. She also felt embarrassed borrowing Fang Qianqian’s machine too often. She really started to miss the one back home.

She had considered bringing it when she moved, but the trip had been rushed. It was her first time taking a train, and she had Doubao and all their luggage to handle—lugging a sewing machine too had felt like too much, so she’d given up on the idea.

Oh well, no use thinking about it now—she’d just have to sew by hand.

She stood up to look for her needle and thread, but at that moment, someone knocked on the door. When she went to open it, a young woman around twenty stood outside.

She looked neat and pleasant—not exactly beautiful, but well-groomed and presentable. Her polished leather shoes shone brightly. Lin Suisui was sure they hadn’t met before, so she asked, “Hello, who are you looking for?”

“Sister-in-law, hello!” the woman stepped forward and introduced herself. “I’m Xia Jiahuan, Chu Zhiqiang’s wife. We’re holding a wedding banquet this Sunday at noon. You and Deputy Commander Huo should come early.”

Lin Suisui didn’t know Chu Zhiqiang or Xia Jiahuan, but he must have been one of Huo Changzheng’s subordinates or close comrades, otherwise she wouldn’t have come to invite them personally.

“Congratulations to you both! We’ll definitely be there,” Lin Suisui agreed right away. After all, social customs like this couldn’t be avoided.

“Great. Then I’ll head back now.” Xia Jiahuan nodded with a smile and turned to leave.

Lin Suisui didn’t go back inside right away. Instead, she knocked on the door across the hall—since they were attending a wedding banquet, she needed to understand the local customs in the compound.

It turned out Chu Zhiqiang was a company commander under Huo Changzheng. He had recently returned home and gotten married. His rank now qualified for bringing his spouse with him, so he brought his wife to join him.

“I heard Chu Zhiqiang’s family is pretty poor. He’s been sending all his wages and allowances back home these past few years,” Fang Qianqian said. “His wife dresses well, though—looks like her family’s better off than his.”

She added, “Before, Ye Yuxia and Hu Xiuying kept trying to set him up with their relatives from back home, but he rejected all of them. I figure he and his wife were already together, just waiting for him to make company commander before he could go propose.”

Lin Suisui couldn’t help but give her a thumbs-up after hearing such a spot-on analysis. “How are you so sharp? You saw her once and figured out so much.”

“I’m just guessing—it might not all be right,” Fang Qianqian said. “But this kind of thing is something you really should learn. Don’t be so naïve all the time. One day you might get tricked and not even realize it. Especially by Ye Yuxia and Hu Xiuying—those two together are like a pot of rats. Be on guard.”

Lin Suisui had never met Ye Yuxia or Hu Xiuying, and was confused. “Why? I don’t even know them.”

“You don’t know them, but they know you.” Fang Qianqian warned, “They’ve been eyeing your Huo regiment commander for a long time—before your marriage and after. They’ve been trying to make him their relative one way or another.”

At that, even someone as simple as Lin Suisui understood. First there was Song Xiao, now Ye Yuxia and Hu Xiuying’s relatives—and probably even more women she didn’t know about. Huo Changzheng was clearly very popular.

She was honestly relieved she hadn’t come to live with the troops earlier. If she had, with the way she used to be—always insecure and getting hurt—she probably would’ve made herself sick from stress.

“Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll keep my guard up,” Lin Suisui replied, not revealing her true thoughts. Then she asked, “So we’re going to a wedding Sunday—how do people in the compound usually give gifts?”

“Normally it’s 50 cents, regardless of how many people in the household. But since your Huo regiment commander is their big boss, maybe you should give a bit more—talk it over and decide.” Fang Qianqian said, “Chu Zhiqiang isn’t under Cheng Hao’s command, so I’ll just follow the general custom.”

“Got it. I’ll ask when I get home.” Lin Suisui didn’t stay long at the Cheng household and returned to her place, where she kept busy until 10:30 before heading to her shift at the cafeteria.

She was used to this back-and-forth routine by now. But since Huang Shuilan would be returning in a few days, her cafeteria job was about to end.

She had worked for half a month, and her wages would be calculated at half the rate of a full-time worker—a total of twenty yuan. The thought of it made her a little excited.

It wasn’t like she’d never seen twenty yuan before, or that she really needed it. But it was the first time in her 25 years that she had earned that much on her own.

Before she got married, all the labor points she earned while working in the fields at the Lin household were exchanged for food. Even if there was a surplus at the end of the year, not a single cent ever ended up in her own pocket.

When she arrived at the canteen, she tied on her apron and got to work right away. An hour passed quickly, and just as her shift was about to end, Fang Weiguo arrived.

“Comrade Fang, what would you like to eat?” Lin Suisui asked with a smile.

Fang Weiguo looked at her, smiling even more cheerfully than she did, and said, “Sister-in-law, you decide. This is for the regiment commander. As long as it’s packed by you, he’ll definitely enjoy it.”

…

Even on his day off, Huo Changzheng was still so busy he had to send a subordinate to fetch his meal. Lin Suisui had no idea what he was so busy with, but she still quickly filled a lunchbox to the brim.

“Comrade Fang, please help me ask your regiment commander if he’s free this afternoon to pick up Doubao. If he’s not, I’ll bring Doubao to the canteen instead,” Lin Suisui said, not knowing his schedule.

“It’s fine. The commander’s only busy for a bit. He’ll be free this afternoon. Just remember to head home early after work tonight.”

That last sentence from Fang Weiguo carried a subtle meaning, but Lin Suisui thought it might just be her imagination.

Still, after work that evening, she rushed home.

The weather was getting colder by the day, and it made people especially hungry. Her Doubao was still waiting for her to feed him—she couldn’t let him go hungry.

“Doubao, I’m home! We can eat now!” she called as she stepped inside.

She thought Doubao would run out from the house to greet her, but instead, his little head popped out from the kitchen in the courtyard. He waved at her. “Mama, hurry and come in—there’s something good!”

“What good thing?” Lin Suisui asked, puzzled, but still walked toward the kitchen.

As soon as she stepped inside, she saw Huo Changzheng was there too. She was just about to speak when her eyes followed the direction of his hand—and there it was: an oven that looked almost identical to the one at Fang Qianqian’s house.