Chapter 16 – The Strongwoman

“Don’t be mad, wife. That Zhang Lianhua once tried to introduce her younger sister to me, but I turned her down. Ever since then, she’s liked to gossip about me. This time, she probably saw you with Ruibao and just assumed I married a divorced woman. If she spreads rumors again, just come tell me—I’ll go deal with her husband,” Lu Fengnian said.

He was worried that Liu Shuning might get the short end of the stick when dealing with someone like Zhang Lianhua. His wife was still just a young girl, while the other was a loud, unreasonable shrew.

It looked like he really needed to have a talk with Company Commander Liang tonight. As Zhang Lianhua’s husband, it was his responsibility to keep her in check.

Hearing Lu Fengnian’s explanation, Liu Shuning felt her anger ease a bit. It really wasn’t his fault—it was Zhang Lianhua’s petty and jealous nature to blame. “I’m not mad. I’m not the type to get worked up over someone like her.”

Lu Fengnian looked at his proud and adorable wife and couldn’t help but smile. He gently patted her shoulder. “That’s good. My wife is generous and magnanimous. But next time something like this happens, don’t just endure it by yourself.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let myself suffer any losses. I just don’t act like a shrew, that’s all. But if she bullies me again, I’ll make sure to deal with her properly.”

It wasn’t that hard to deal with a shrew. Even if she didn’t know how to argue, she could always pretend to be weak and put on an act like a tea master.

And if the other woman dared to get physical, she wasn’t afraid either. If someone dared to pull her hair, she’d go for their pants—see who ends up more embarrassed. If they wanted a fight, so be it.

“Mommy, I’ll protect you from now on!” Ruibao said seriously, clenching his little fists.

Liu Shuning patted his head and laughed. “Alright then, Mommy will be counting on you to protect her from now on.”

Looking at the two of them—one big and one small—Lu Fengnian felt his heart overflow with warmth.

It was getting late, and the people working at the new house had already gone home.

Liu Shuning immediately went to inspect the kitchen. The half-collapsed stove had been demolished and rebuilt. A storage counter had also been added, just as she had requested.

“When will this stove be usable? I saw there was already a fire going underneath.”

“Probably tomorrow. I’ll go install the wok for you now.” Lu Fengnian rolled up his sleeves, carried the big iron wok from the storage room, and placed it on the stove. After carefully checking that everything was in place, he straightened up. “I seasoned the wok yesterday. You can use it right away tomorrow. Or maybe it’s better to use the coal stove—I’ve got a mission tomorrow and won’t have time to chop firewood.”

“That’s fine.”

Since Lu Fengnian wouldn’t be home, she could just take food out from her storage space. At mealtimes, she’d use the coal stove to boil some water and let a bit of smoke out—good enough.

“The toilet in the yard is almost done too. You can move in soon if you’re tired of staying at the guesthouse.”

“That’s what I was thinking. The guesthouse is comfortable, sure, but it doesn’t feel like home. The weather’s getting cooler, too. I want to go up the mountain and collect some firewood.”

She had long wanted to take a stroll up the mountain, but having to take care of Ruibao made it difficult.

“Leave the firewood to me. I’ll ask Monkey to help out. Once we’ve moved in, we can make him something good to eat as thanks.”

“Don’t keep troubling Monkey. I can handle gathering firewood myself.”

She wasn’t short on dry firewood—her storage space had over a ton. All she needed were some dry branches and pine needles to use as kindling.

Pine needles and dry branches could easily be found at the base of the mountain, which was safe. She could take Ruibao along.

“If you really want to go, just stick to the back of the mountain. Don’t wander off.”

Lu Fengnian couldn’t win against Liu Shuning, so he reluctantly agreed. It was the season to stock up on firewood, and the mountain was bustling with people. He wasn’t too worried about her safety.

“I promise I won’t go far. I’ll just stroll around the foot of the mountain and collect some branches.”

Still uneasy, Lu Fengnian reminded her again, “Make sure to stay safe while you’re with Ruibao. If anything seems off, shout for help immediately.”

Liu Shuning nodded, but in her heart, she thought: With my space ability, how could anything go wrong?

The next morning, Lu Fengnian set off early for his mission.

After breakfast, Liu Shuning took Ruibao to the base of the mountain behind their house. There were already quite a few people there gathering pine needles and sticks.

When Ruibao saw other kids nearby playing, he begged to be let down. As soon as Liu Shuning put him on the ground, he excitedly ran around and even helped her pick up pine needles.

Liu Shuning calmly and steadily gathered dry branches, bundling them with grass rope once she had enough.

After making a few trips back and forth, she had already piled up a good amount of sticks and pine needles in the corner of their yard.

Back at the mountain, after Liu Shuning left, the others gathered to talk again.

“Deputy Captain Lu’s wife is so strong! Most of us can only carry two bundles of wood, but she carried six at once!”

“That’s nothing. I saw her climb a tree to cut branches, and those branches fell down like she was mowing grass.”

“I even saw her snap a branch as thick as a wrist with one foot!”

“She’s honestly terrifying. I’m never going to mess with her. My neck’s definitely not as tough as those branches.”

“Me neither. Who would’ve thought? She looks so slim and petite, but she’s incredibly strong.”

“If I had that kind of strength, gathering firewood every year wouldn’t be such a pain.”

…

Liu Shuning had no idea that after she left, she once again became the talk of the mountain. Originally, she hadn’t wanted people to know she had so much strength—but she’d accidentally revealed it.

Eventually, she gave up trying to hide it. So what if people knew she was a strongwoman?

—

At the family compound

Liu Shuning went to the guesthouse to bring over the groceries she’d bought and started cooking. It was her first time using this kind of wood-fired stove, and it took her a long time and a lot of effort to get the fire going.

Since there were still workers around, she didn’t dare take food out from her space.

The army’s supply store didn’t offer much variety—she only managed to buy a pound of eggs, a handful of chives, and a wilted head of Chinese cabbage.

Looking at her ingredients, Liu Shuning thought for a moment, then decided to make some noodles with egg and chive topping.

The noodles came from the Liu household. Liu Zhixiong liked eating noodles, so they always kept some stocked.

She had a lot of dry noodles in her space and planned to cook a big batch today so the workers could have a proper meal too.

“Brothers, I cooked a bit extra today. Come try my cooking!”

“No need, sister-in-law—we’ve already had lunch.”

Old Qin had just seen Liu Shuning carry the noodles into the kitchen. Those were high-quality handmade noodles—how could they shamelessly eat that?

“Even if you’ve eaten, you can still have a bit more. I made a huge pot—if you don’t help me eat it, I won’t be able to finish it on my own!”

Liu Shuning had cooked nearly ten pounds of noodles. Her large iron pot was filled to the brim.

Seeing everyone tempted, Old Qin finally nodded.

With his permission, everyone grabbed their lunch boxes and scooped up some noodles from the pot.

Although the pot had looked full, it didn’t take long before the noodles were all gone.

Liu Shuning was stunned—these soldiers sure could eat! They’d already had lunch and could still down that many noodles. Thankfully, she’d made enough, or it would’ve been really awkward.