Chapter 28

“Yeah, look at them—do they have any of the qualities of a good wife and mother? They only care about their own appearance, make things easier for themselves, and don’t care whether their husbands are tired or not. When their husbands are working outside, we should definitely handle things at home well. How could we possibly boss around the men? They just spend all their money on things like Vanishing Cream and clothes—such a waste.”

“Sufen, you should treat yourself better too,” Su Qianqian said.

Wu Sufen immediately responded, “I treat myself pretty well! I eat enough, stay warm, and now I have this good house to live in—what’s wrong with that?”

“Well, don’t you want to work outside?” Su Qianqian remembered that military spouses could be assigned some simple jobs if needed.

“Work? Doing what? I don’t know how!” Wu Sufen shook her head. “If I work outside, who will take care of my husband and kids? I’ll just stay at home and take care of them.”

Su Qianqian nodded but didn’t say anything further.

It was difficult for her to correct Wu Sufen’s thinking, so she chose not to try. Respecting her was enough.

After washing the dishes, she went to her room and grabbed some Vanishing Cream. “Sufen, here, put some cream on your hands. Otherwise, your hands will feel uncomfortable.”

She directly applied it to Wu Sufen’s hands, and Wu Sufen didn’t have time to refuse.

“My hands are used to working. They’re not that delicate. No need to apply cream,” Wu Sufen said.

“You’ve already got it on your hands, so just rub it in. Don’t waste it. Plus, you washed all those dishes for me, so you definitely deserve this,” Su Qianqian insisted.

Wu Sufen had never used Vanishing Cream before, but she was somewhat intrigued. She had heard about it for a long time but never bought it because it was expensive. Her husband’s monthly salary was only 68 yuan, so she could never justify spending on something like this.

After rubbing it into the back of her hands, she noticed her hands smelled nice, and it felt like they weren’t as dry anymore, though she wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “It really smells good,” she said shyly.

“I’ll head back now.”

“Okay, thanks for helping with the cleaning, Sufen.”

Su Qianqian walked her to the door, and as she walked back a few steps, she noticed Sufen was carefully sniffing her hands. The joy was evident on her face.

Su Qianqian hoped that Sufen would treat herself better, and not just be content with the basics of eating and staying warm.

“You worked hard today,” Cheng Yue said, looking at Su Qianqian.

“It was tough. My back and waist hurt now, and my hands are sore. So, how much are you going to pay me?” She stretched out her hand and shook her leg, looking playful, and her expression made Cheng Yue smile.

Cheng Yue rarely smiled, always seeming serious, but when he did, it only made him even more handsome. No wonder Zhou Yun liked him so much—who wouldn’t be smitten?

A handsome older brother with a strong build—he was practically a dream man!

He took out a 100-yuan bill. “Is this enough?”

Su Qianqian immediately showed a little greedy smile, reaching for the bill. “It’s enough! By the way, do you have a lot of tickets? If you don’t need them, just give them to me.”

After all, Cheng Yue, as a big man, probably wouldn’t use many tickets, but they’d be useful to her.

“Alright, I’ll find all those tickets for you.”

“Do you have any watch tickets? Or bicycle tickets?”

Those were the things she needed most right now. In this era, riding a bicycle was still considered cool, and as for a car, she wasn’t in a hurry—once she made some money, she could buy one. Anyway, reform and opening up were coming soon.

“I have bicycle tickets. You can ride it if you want. I can’t ride it right now. As for the watch tickets, I’ll ask around for you,” Cheng Yue said, then suddenly remembered something. “Can you read a watch?”

“If you teach me, I’ll learn,” Su Qianqian replied.

Cheng Yue nodded, his lips curling up slightly, thinking that Su Qianqian was smart and would probably learn quickly.

“But I can’t teach you how to ride a bike right now.”

“It’s fine, let Cheng Yuan teach me.”

“?” Again, Cheng Yuan? Should I have him transferred?

Su Qianqian knew how to ride a bike, but she needed to make it look like she was just learning, or else Cheng Yue might get suspicious.

“Let Lin Xuemei teach you, she knows too. You two are pretty close, right?”

“Sure, I’ll go find her tomorrow.”

She stretched lazily. “I’m so tired, I’m going to wash up and sleep.”

Recently, she had gained a little weight, but her waist was still slim. As she stretched, a small section of her waist showed, making quite an impact visually, especially since she had become much fairer, and you could almost feel the softness and slenderness of her waist.

He looked at his own hand and thought that he could probably hold her waist with just one hand.

Su Qianqian, of course, was unaware of his thoughts. She first checked on the three little ones and, seeing that they weren’t hungry, felt relieved. She had them wash their faces, brush their teeth, and wash their feet, and then went to wash her hair and body.

She had spent the whole day in the kitchen, and it smelled like oil and smoke, so she definitely needed a good wash.

…

After the meal, it didn’t take long for the news that Su Qianqian, the wife of Captain Cheng, cooked delicious food to spread through the compound.

“Isn’t Captain Cheng’s wife from the countryside? How good can her cooking be? I don’t believe it.”

“I heard from Lin Xuemei that it was really good. Oh, and she let me try some of Su Qianqian’s pickled cucumbers—they were indeed delicious.”

“Wasn’t it said that she was a spoiled and unreasonable woman from the countryside? She was supposedly bad to everyone except her family and even abused her three children?”

“Yeah, they also said that she must have pestered Captain Cheng to marry her. Otherwise, how could someone as outstanding as him be interested in her?”

Another woman leaned in to gossip.

“I’ve seen Su Qianqian before. She’s quite pretty, but a bit too thin. Though, she’s impressive, managing to have three children. I wouldn’t have guessed she’d be good with kids. Her chest is small and her hips aren’t that big though.”

“Maybe it’s because taking care of three kids was hard, plus life in the countryside was tough. It’s normal for her to be thin. Now that she’s here, she should be able to gain some weight back.”

Just then, Su Qianqian and Lin Xuemei walked by, with Lin Xuemei pushing a bicycle.

Everyone fell silent, but the woman who had tried the pickled cucumbers smiled and walked up to Su Qianqian. “Mrs. Cheng, do you have any more pickled cucumbers? I’d like to buy a jar.”

“Yes, I have some. Where do you live? I can bring it over to you later.”

“I live in that building,” she pointed. “Third floor, apartment 301.”

“Okay, I’ll bring it to you.”

“What are you two up to?”

“I want to learn how to ride a bike. Lin Xuemei is going to teach me.”

“Ah! Riding a bike isn’t easy to learn. You’ll fall a lot, be careful!”

Su Qianqian nodded. “I’ll be careful. We’ll go ahead now.”

When they reached the open space, Lin Xuemei said to her, “Don’t be afraid. I’ll hold the backseat. But you’ll probably fall a couple of times while learning—usually after one or two falls, you’ll get the hang of it.”

“Haha, I’m tough! I can handle falling.”

“You? Tough? I think you’re even fairer and more delicate than I am. By the way, that Vanishing Cream you gave me is really different. I’ve only used it twice, but I feel like my skin is already getting better. Or maybe I’m just imagining it? What do you think?”