Chapter 8: The Canteen

The family of three sat at the dining table in the living room, eating strawberries.

Xia Qinqin held a large strawberry in her small hands, happily swinging her legs as she ate.

“Mom, this strawberry is so delicious!”

Meng Yufei nodded. “The fruit here is sweeter than in Haishi, and the strawberries are bigger too.”

Xia Qinqin’s fair little face was stained with red strawberry juice. She grinned and said, “I want to eat strawberries again tomorrow!”

Xia Junshan chuckled. “Alright, Daddy will buy you more tomorrow.”

Meng Yufei refused without hesitation. “No, we already planned to have pineapple tomorrow. You can only have one kind of fruit per day.”

“Alright then…”

Although slightly disappointed, Xia Qinqin quickly grew excited again at the thought of eating pineapple tomorrow and continued happily munching on her strawberries.

After they finished eating, Meng Yufei took her daughter to the sink. The little girl’s face was covered in strawberry juice, so Meng Yufei carefully washed her clean and dried her off with a towel.

She silently thanked the convenience of having running water.

Inside the house, Xia Junshan took out all the remaining ration coupons and money in the household and handed them over to Meng Yufei.

She sorted through them. Since Xia Junshan ate at the canteen, there weren’t many grain or meat ration coupons left. However, they had saved quite a few coupons for supplementary food, cloth, and oil.

There were also several industrial ration coupons, including one for a sewing machine, one for a bicycle, and a few cigarette ration coupons.

Noticing Meng Yufei glancing at the cigarette coupons for a moment longer, Xia Junshan quickly explained, “They’re not for me. Sometimes, when I need a favor, these are as good as currency.”

“Take Old Sun from yesterday, for example. Even though we’re close, he was still using a company vehicle to help us. That meant he had to account for the favor back at work. I gave him two cartons of cigarettes—not just to thank him, but also to make it easier for him to return the favor at his unit.”

Meng Yufei nodded in understanding. “I know. Before I came here, Dad even gave me a few cigarette coupons. He said he doesn’t need them and told me to bring them for you.”

As she spoke, she took out a square metal box from her suitcase. Inside were all the savings and ration coupons the couple had accumulated over the years.

Opening it revealed a thick stack of ration coupons, cash, and a passbook.

Before coming here, Meng Yufei had already exchanged all their coupons for nationwide ones. She also set aside the coupons Xia Junshan had given her and decided to go through their savings together with him.

The couple had been married for six years. Xia Junshan’s salary had started at seventy-four yuan per month and had since increased to 132 yuan. Nearly all of it had been sent home to Meng Yufei.

Meng Yufei also had a job. As a university graduate, her starting salary had been fifty-five yuan, and over the years, it had gradually increased to seventy-two yuan.

In an era where the average worker earned around thirty to forty yuan per month, the two of them were solidly in the high-income bracket.

On top of that, Meng Yufei and their daughter had been living with her parents all these years. Both Father Meng and mother earned high salaries, and they covered all household expenses.

After getting married, Meng Yufei gave her family twenty yuan each month for household expenses. Her parents originally refused to take it, but they couldn’t win against their daughter’s insistence, so they accepted it. However, all that money ended up being spent on Xia Qinqin.

Despite Meng Yufei’s tendency to spend money freely, over the years, their small family had still managed to save up quite a substantial amount.

When Xia Junshan opened the passbook, his eyes widened in shock.

6,500 yuan!

“We’ve saved this much money?” Xia Junshan was surprised.

Meng Yufei said proudly, “You’re not the only one earning a salary in this household. Plus, Qinqin and I have been living with my parents all these years, and they’ve helped us out a lot.”

Xia Junshan said, “Mom and Dad have worked hard for us all these years. We need to take good care of them in the future.”

His own parents had passed away early, and he had never really experienced much family warmth growing up. After getting married, his in-laws treated him like their own son, and he truly saw them as his parents in his heart.

Meng Yufei pulled out a few industrial and coal ration coupons from the stack. “I just saw some coal stoves for sale at the supply and marketing cooperative. Let’s buy one this afternoon. I’m not good at using the clay stove at home.”

Xia Junshan took the coupons and said, “I can go buy it now, and on the way back, I’ll stop by the canteen to get our meal.”

“Let’s go together. I should familiarize myself with the way to the canteen too.”

Taking a few grain ration coupons and some loose change, Meng Yufei put the metal box away.

The canteen in the family compounds wasn’t very big. Most of the military families chose to cook at home since it was more cost-effective than eating at the canteen.

Although the canteen didn’t stock large quantities of food, the variety was unexpectedly rich.

“Lucky day! They have coconut chicken today—it’s a local specialty.”

“Oh? I should give it a try. I had a college classmate from Qiongzhou who always talked about it.”

Xia Junshan pointed at the coconut chicken and said to the woman serving food at the window, “Sister-in-law, one order of coconut chicken, please.”

The woman serving food was also a military spouse, so she immediately recognized Xia Junshan. When he first arrived at the unit, he was young, exceptionally handsome, and already a regiment commander. Quite a few people had tried to introduce him to potential wives.

Unfortunately for them, he was already married—with a child, no less.

“Commander Xia, is this your wife?”

Now, seeing this man and woman together, both looking outstanding in appearance and temperament, she found them to be a perfect match.

“Yes, this is my wife, Meng Yufei. She just arrived today. I’ll be counting on you to look after her from now on.”

“What are you saying? Of course! Whenever you come to get food, I’ll make sure you get a good portion.”

“Thank you very much.”

Along with the coconut chicken, they ordered a steamed sea bass, stir-fried spinach, and a bowl of seaweed and dried shrimp soup.

The coconut chicken cost 47 cents and 2 taels of meat ration coupons, which was quite expensive—about the same price as braised pork.

The steamed sea bass was 23 cents, stir-fried spinach 5 cents, and the seaweed shrimp soup 7 cents.

They also got a serving of rice for 10 cents, using half a catty of grain ration coupons.

In total, the meal cost 92 cents, plus 2 taels of meat ration coupons and half a catty of grain ration coupons.

Since they were by the sea, most of the seafood dishes in the canteen didn’t require ration coupons.

After getting their food, the family of three ran into Deputy Commander Chen’s wife, Qi Huiying, at the entrance of the canteen.

She was still wearing the same pink long dress from the morning, paired with black leather high heels. As she walked on the concrete path outside the canteen, the rhythmic click-clack of her heels echoed clearly.

The sound was especially noticeable in the open space of the canteen, drawing many people’s attention.

The two sides didn’t exchange greetings and simply brushed past each other.

Qi Huiying pursed her lips and glanced at the family’s retreating figures, silently scoffing: A woman in this era who doesn’t stay home and cook but instead comes to the canteen to eat? She had even seen how much they spent—nearly a whole yuan! And for what? Just one daughter? So pretentious.

Qi Huiying was from several decades in the future—she had transmigrated.

A month ago, she found herself inside the body of a girl from sixty years ago.

The original owner was 21 years old, a high school graduate, and a temporary worker at the Qiongzhou Garment Factory. She came from a bad background—her father was a capitalist who fled abroad with his mistress after the liberation, leaving her, her mother, and her younger brother behind in the mainland.

Half a year ago, at a company social event, Deputy Commander Chen took a liking to Qi Huiying and pursued her.

But Qi Huiying already had someone she loved—her childhood sweetheart. He was studying at a university in another city, and they had secretly promised to marry once he graduated and returned.

So from the very beginning, she outright rejected Deputy Commander Chen’s advances.

But fate had other plans. Her younger brother was diagnosed with tuberculosis and needed antibiotics for treatment. In this era, antibiotics were extremely scarce, not something an ordinary person could access. Given their family’s status, they had no connections to acquire the medicine.

With no other choice, Qi Huiying was forced by her mother to seek out Deputy Commander Chen.

One thing led to another, and under her mother’s persistent matchmaking, she eventually became engaged to him.

But on the night before her wedding, her childhood sweetheart returned, and the two made plans to elope in the middle of the night.

Just before she could leave, her mother caught her. Naturally, she refused to let her daughter go. In the ensuing struggle, the girl hit her head on the corner of a table and passed out.

By the time she woke up, she was no longer the same person inside.

The new Qi Huiying knew what the future held. So what if her childhood sweetheart was a university student? Given his family background, life would only get harder for him in the coming years. Following him would mean suffering.

But Deputy Commander Chen was different. If she married him, she’d be an officer’s wife!

Without hesitation, she chose to go through with the marriage.

After getting married, she immediately quit her factory job—there was no way she’d work on an assembly line as a temporary laborer. She was a high school graduate, which counted as a highly educated person in this era!

Since arriving on the island, she had been actively building relationships with Division Commander Li’s wife and Commissar Yu’s wife, frequently bringing what she considered valuable gifts from this era to visit them.

Although Commissar Yu’s wife always treated her coldly, Qi Huiying prided herself on being magnanimous. She wouldn’t stoop to argue with a crude country woman who had only gotten lucky by marrying well.

On the other hand, Division Commander Li’s wife was more refined, always greeting her warmly.

After a month of observation, Qi Huiying was convinced that she was the youngest, prettiest, most fashionable, and most educated woman in the island’s family compounds. She had already set her sights on becoming a teacher at the island’s elementary school.

But today, after seeing the newly arrived wife of Regiment Commander Xia, she immediately became alert.

However, just now, she had seen that woman’s wasteful habits. In this era, she had only given birth to one daughter? Hah, she’s nothing more than a perfect comparison to make myself look better.

Thinking this, Qi Huiying curled her lips into a satisfied smile.

As they stepped out of the canteen, Xia Qinqin suddenly stopped and waved her hand around her ear.

“Qinqin, what’s wrong?” Meng Yufei asked curiously.

Xia Qinqin frowned and said, “Mom, it’s so noisy by my ear. There’s a buzzing sound that won’t stop.”

“Noisy?”

Meng Yufei crouched down, leaned in close to check her daughter’s ear carefully, and gently touched it, but she didn’t find anything unusual.

“How about now? Is it still noisy?”

Xia Qinqin paused, listened carefully for a moment, then shook her head. “No, it’s gone now.”

Xia Junshan also crouched down to take a look and guessed, “Maybe an insect flew near her ear just now?”

Meng Yufei said, “Are there already mosquitoes around? Does the supply store sell mosquito nets? Maybe we should buy two for home. I’m worried there might be mosquitoes at night.”

Xia Junshan replied, “I asked before. The supply store doesn’t have mosquito nets in stock this month yet. They might be available in Qiongzhou City. When I have my next leave, we can go to the city to buy some.”

Then he lowered his head and asked his daughter, “Qinqin, does your ear still hurt? Do you feel unwell anywhere?”

Xia Qinqin shook her head. “No, it doesn’t hurt.”

Seeing that their daughter was really fine, the couple sighed in relief.

The family of three continued walking home to have lunch.