Chapter 29 Your wife is here.

Lin Suisui felt she might have been overthinking it. He probably just genuinely wanted to eat potato pancakes.

“Okay,” she agreed. Then she remembered they were attending a wedding banquet on Sunday, so she asked, “Yesterday, Shu Zhiqiang’s wife from your battalion came to tell me they’re holding a wedding banquet on Sunday. Qianqian said the usual contribution in the compound is fifty cents. I wanted to ask—should we give a little more?”

“What do you think is appropriate?” Huo Changzheng asked in return instead of answering directly.

“One yuan?” Lin Suisui said uncertainly. “You’re a leader, so you could make a slightly bigger gesture. It might help your work go more smoothly in the future.”

Although work was work—especially in the army where things were more straightforward—when it came to social niceties, balance still mattered.

“Alright, we’ll do what you said,” Huo Changzheng agreed without the slightest objection, as if whatever she said was fine by him.

With his approval, Lin Suisui didn’t say more. After getting ready, she headed out to work.

Her job serving food meant repeating the same motions every day. The breakfast shift passed quickly, and as she was getting off work, Li Changlong called her over. “Suisui, Shuilan came back yesterday afternoon. She’s taking a day to rest and will be back at work tomorrow. You won’t need to come in anymore.”

“Got it.” Lin Suisui had known this was a temporary job and expected this day to come. Still, she was a little reluctant to leave.

She smiled and said, “Uncle Long, thank you for taking care of me these past few days.”

Li Changlong had really taken a liking to Lin Suisui—not only did she do good work, she didn’t gossip and always spoke in a way that was pleasant to hear.

“This is your pay for the past few days.” He handed her an envelope. “You’ve done a great job. If a vacancy ever opens up in the canteen, you’ll be the first person I think of.”

“Thank you so much, Uncle Long,” Lin Suisui said sincerely as she took the envelope.

Of course, her thanks weren’t just words. When she went home to bake a cake for Huo Changzheng, she made an extra one to give to Li Changlong. She actually wanted to bake a couple more so her other coworkers could try too, but milk was hard to come by. The milk she used that day had been specially sourced by Fang Qianqian, who had gone out early to a nearby village to get it.

When Li Changlong received the cake, his smile was so wide it nearly split his face. After one bite, the amazement in his eyes was impossible to hide. He even sighed, “If you came to make breakfast at our canteen, it’d be fantastic.”

Jobs were hard to come by in those days—many people chasing few positions. The canteen especially was a one-person-per-role kind of place. There was no way Li Changlong could just kick someone out to make space for her. But getting his praise still made her very happy and gave her even more confidence in her future plan to pursue baking.

Before she knew it, Sunday had arrived.

Today, Doubao didn’t have school, so Lin Suisui could take him along to the Shu family’s wedding banquet.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that their household always had meat—thanks to Huo Changzheng’s capabilities. For most families, meat was something reserved for holidays. So a wedding banquet was something truly exciting, on par with a festival.

Just as Lin Suisui finished dressing Doubao in a handsome outfit, Fang Qianqian came knocking.

“Auntie Qianqian, don’t I look dashing today?” Doubao asked smugly when he saw her.

“Of course you do! In the whole compound, there’s not a single kid as good-looking as our Doubao,” Fang Qianqian praised generously.

After all, Doubao had taken after Huo Changzheng. The original copy was already great, so the replica couldn’t be bad.

“You’re going to blow him up with compliments,” Lin Suisui said helplessly. “It’s about time, let’s head out.”

“Wait—you’re going out like that?” Fang Qianqian immediately grabbed her.

“Yeah, is there something wrong with it?” Lin Suisui asked, puzzled.

“Come on, you’re attending a wedding banquet! Of course, you should dress up a little to show respect for the hosts,” Fang Qianqian said decisively. “You should wear that new outfit we made last time.”

“No need, really…” Lin Suisui resisted. “I’m just going to eat, nothing fancy.”

“Of course it’s necessary,” Fang Qianqian insisted, pushing her toward the bedroom. “You have two options—change by yourself, or I’ll help you change.”

Even Doubao joined in, pushing alongside her, “Mommy, come on, go change. I’m so handsome today, you should look pretty too!”

With no way out, Lin Suisui finally gave in and obediently went to change.

She hadn’t had a chance to try the outfit on in front of Fang Qianqian before, but when she did now, Fang Qianqian gave herself a mental thumbs-up. “I’m amazing—this dress suits you perfectly. You look stunning, might even steal the bride’s spotlight.”

That made Lin Suisui panic. “Then I’d better not wear it!”

“No way. With your figure and looks, even in a sackcloth you’d steal the show,” Fang Qianqian said, dragging her outside. “Do you have dress shoes?”

“No. And this dress with cloth shoes won’t look right. Maybe I should—”

Before she could back out again, Fang Qianqian interrupted, “I have an extra pair, same size. You can borrow them.”

They wore the same size, so when Lin Suisui put on Fang Qianqian’s shoes, her outfit was complete.

It was Lin Suisui’s first time wearing heels, so she was a bit unsteady at first. But after walking a while, she got used to it.

Word had it that Shu Zhigang and Xia Jiahuan had invited a lot of people, and before they even reached the house, they could already hear the commotion from far away.

“Chenghao, who’s the woman walking with your wife?” Gu Cheng was lazily sitting at the door chatting with some comrades when a striking figure in the distance caught his eye.

Chenghao looked up and also glanced over—but his eyes first fell on Fang Qianqian.

Seeing his wife in that dress today—absolutely gorgeous.

“Well, who is it?” Gu Cheng pressed. “You’ve been staring for ages.”

Only then did Chenghao shift his gaze. From this distance, he recognized his wife immediately, but wasn’t too familiar with other women. However, he did notice the little boy bouncing ahead of them—Doubao.

Taking a guess, he said, “Probably the Captain’s wife.”

Now that he said it, Gu Cheng realized it really was Lin Suisui. He’d never had strong feelings about her, but he had to admit she was beautiful. Her usual plain clothing kept her looks under wraps, but dressed up today, she shone—and he had to admit, no wonder the infamous battlefield god Huo Changzheng had fallen.

Just then, Huo Changzheng, who had gone inside earlier to congratulate Shu Zhigang, stepped back out.

Someone spotted him and called out, “Captain, your wife’s here!”