Chapter 10 – Arrival at the Military Base

“It’s fine. In a few days, when the child’s grandmother recovers, she’ll come to the northeast to find you. Here’s twenty yuan and a milk powder coupon—use it to buy formula for the child.”

The taller of the two train police stuffed the money and coupon into Liu Shuning’s hand. After all, they couldn’t expect others to both spend their effort and cover the expenses.

Technically, caring for the child should’ve been the responsibility of the train staff, but due to recent shortages in personnel, they simply couldn’t spare anyone.

“Alright then, Ruibao will come back to Harbin with us for now. Once his grandmother recovers, don’t forget to let her know to come pick him up.” Liu Shuning didn’t refuse the money and coupon. She didn’t have a milk coupon on her, and there was no excuse to take formula from her space inventory.

“Well, we’ll get going then. Thank you again for helping us catch those traffickers.”

——

Over the next few days, Liu Shuning and Lu Fengnian continued their journey with Ruibao.

Ruibao was a well-behaved, sensible child. He didn’t cry or fuss, which made things much easier for Liu Shuning.

During these days, Liu Shuning didn’t forget to do her system sign-ins. After six sign-ins, she had gained: 20 jin (10kg) of flour, 100 meat buns, 100 steamed buns, 10 jin of sea shrimp, 10 king crabs, 10 yellow croakers, one pot of seafood porridge, one pot of plain porridge, one pot of century egg and lean pork porridge, one pot of beef porridge, 10 servings of stir-fried green pepper with eggs, 10 servings of braised pork with preserved vegetables, 10 claypot rice dishes, 10 servings of steamed pork ribs, 10 steamed bass fish, and 10 servings of iron pot braised goose.

With all this food in storage, she could live without lifting a finger and still never go hungry.

As the train was about to arrive at the station, everyone put on lighter coats in preparation for getting off.

Liu Yang and Chen Gang had to head to the cargo section to unload goods, so they left ahead of them.

“Wife, you just hold the child—I’ll carry the rest,” Lu Fengnian said as he started loading all the large and small bags onto himself, even hanging some around his neck until he was practically buried under luggage, with only a simple smile visible on his face.

“Put the stuff down first. The train police just told us to be the last to leave. He’ll take us through a special passage.” The train had just stopped, and crowds of passengers surged off. It was packed outside, making it hard to walk. Better to wait for the crowd to thin out.

Liu Shuning didn’t like squeezing through people. Crowds not only slowed you down but also made it easy to lose things. Outside the train station, it wasn’t just traffickers that posed a threat—there were many pickpockets too. One careless moment and your bag could be slashed open.

“These bags aren’t heavy. I’ll hold on to them for now, and once the crowd clears, we’ll go.”

“Alright then!”

——

With the train police guiding them, Liu Shuning and her group exited the station smoothly via the special passage.

Outside, one of Lu Fengnian’s comrades was already anxiously looking around for them.

“Monkey! We’re over here!”

Following the voice, the man called Monkey looked over and saw a figure buried in luggage waving at him. Once he recognized the face, he quickly rushed over to help.

“Deputy Battalion Commander! If you hadn’t spoken, I wouldn’t have recognized you!”

“You little brat, getting bold enough to joke about me, huh? Let me introduce you—this is my wife, Liu Shuning,” Lu Fengnian said, then turned to Liu Shuning and added, “This is a company commander under my command. You can just call him Monkey.”

“Hello, sister-in-law! I’m Monkey. If you ever need help with anything heavy, just tell me!” Monkey looked at the child in Liu Shuning’s arms, and his expression stiffened—had the commander become a dad already?

“Nice to meet you. Thank you for coming to pick us up. Once we settle in, I’ll ask Lu Fengnian to invite you over for dinner,” Liu Shuning said with a shy smile. She didn’t realize Monkey’s imagination had run wild and that he had assumed the child was her biological son.

Monkey scratched his head and chuckled, “You’re too kind, sister-in-law. It’s my pleasure.” But he couldn’t help glancing at the child again.

Seeing his suspicion, Lu Fengnian explained, “This child is Ruibao. He was kidnapped by traffickers and brought onto the train, and we happened to come across him. His grandmother is sick, and no one else in his family could take care of him, so they entrusted him to us temporarily. Once she recovers, she’ll come get him.”

Only then did Monkey suddenly understand. He smacked his own forehead and said, “Ah, my brain really took a wrong turn!”

“You didn’t think this child was my wife’s, did you?”

Monkey nodded awkwardly. Seeing sister-in-law walk out carrying a baby, how could he not assume?

As they chatted, the group got into the vehicle and headed toward the Northeast Military Region.

After leaving Harbin, the road turned mountainous, growing more remote the farther they went.

Looking at the endless mountain ranges, Liu Shuning frowned. The base was so far from the city—buying daily necessities would be difficult in the future.

An hour later, they arrived at the gate of the military base.

After registering, Lu Fengnian led Liu Shuning and Ruibao into the family housing area and found the house assigned to them.

It was a single-story house, about 70 square meters, with a large yard.

There wasn’t much furniture inside. The living room had just one table and two chairs. Of the two bedrooms, only one had a bed.

The house looked a bit old, but it had been cleaned and tidied, likely thanks to Lu Fengnian having asked someone to prepare it in advance.

Liu Shuning placed Ruibao on the bed and began unpacking with Lu Fengnian.

Monkey helped unload their luggage and then drove off to return the car he had borrowed from logistics. He didn’t want to delay others from using the vehicle.

“Wife, do you not like the house? You don’t seem happy. If you prefer a multi-story building, I can go to logistics and ask if any are available.”

“No, I actually like this place. Those buildings are just corridor-style dorms. There’s no privacy at all—not even convenient to cook or eat.” Liu Shuning shook her head quickly. The apartment buildings now weren’t like the ones in later generations. Back then, they had poor soundproofing and lacked kitchens and toilets inside—people had to go outside to cook and use the bathroom.

“I agree, the single-story house is better. Plus, we’ve got a yard—we can grow some vegetables and scallions. But the house is a bit run-down. We’ll need to get someone to renovate it.”

Lu Fengnian had applied for the family quarters in a hurry and didn’t have time to fix anything. The furniture inside was also collected last-minute with help from the logistics department.

“Does your unit have a guesthouse? If so, I’d rather stay there for a few days while you get someone to paint the walls. We also don’t have much furniture—we’ll need to get some made. And the kang bed-stove in the room needs to be cleared out. No one’s used it in a long time, and I’m not sure if it still works.”

Liu Shuning really couldn’t accept the gray, dusty walls. If she had to sleep there that night, she’d probably have nightmares.

“Yes, we do. Pack the things you’ll need for the next few days—I’ll take you to the guesthouse and get a room. I’ll also find someone to fix up the place and dig a latrine in the yard.”

Lu Fengnian hadn’t planned for her to move in on the first night anyway. Back at her family home, she had her own courtyard—even if she wasn’t pampered, it was still much better than this house.

“Thank you, Lu Fengnian.” Liu Shuning’s impression of him continued to improve. He really was a good man—not domineering, and very considerate in his actions.