Chapter 12: First Attempt at Cooking

An Huan was quite pleased with her new look, and even Zhou Meihua couldn’t stop exclaiming in admiration.

She picked up Dongdong and asked, “Sweetheart, doesn’t your mom look beautiful?”

Dongdong answered without hesitation, his voice soft and sweet, “Yes, Mommy is always beautiful.”

An Huan couldn’t help but burst out laughing and gently stroked her little sweetheart’s cheek.

Zhou Meihua was practically envious to death—how did she raise such a darling, warm-hearted son? She wanted one too.

Next, they went to buy fabric.

In the county town, aside from the military base and factory zones, the tallest building was the supply and marketing cooperative, a full three stories high and bustling with people.

Especially at the fabric counter, there was a long queue. By the time An Huan’s turn came, only some drab navy blue and dark gray fabrics were left.

She hesitated for a while and finally bought a piece of dark gray under the clerk’s urging.

“Meihua, do you know someone who can get their hands on the more in-demand fabrics?” An Huan asked in a low voice.

Though she hadn’t grown up in this era, she understood that some unspoken rules were timeless.

Zhou Meihua shook her head. “I’ve always worn homespun clothes, never bought this kind of fabric.”

An Huan gave up on the idea and decided instead to buy some ready-made clothes to wear for now.

Ready-made clothes were more expensive, so fewer people bought them.

She picked three blouses made of rayon, all in plain styles with minor differences in detail. She also bought three pairs of pants—black, gray, and khaki.

Most of Dongdong’s clothes were little shirts and tiny suits. An Huan picked out a few striped sailor shirts and undershirts for him—durable and resistant to dirt.

The county didn’t have a wide selection of goods. Once they’d finished shopping, the group headed back home.

With her new haircut, An Huan looked quite different. As soon as she entered the family quarters, people started coming up to look.

“Oh wow, you look great—like a young girl again!”

“This haircut suits you. What was with that curly mess before? Anyone who didn’t know better would think you and Madam Chen from the Commander’s family were cut from the same cloth.”

“Exactly! We’re cadre families. Messing with those foreign fads—what kind of example does that set?”

An Huan smiled and listened to their comments. By the end, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

So it turned out people had been murmuring behind her back all along despite their friendly faces. This haircut had definitely been the right move.

Zhou Meihua, though not the most perceptive, picked up on the unspoken undertone in their words. “You know what? It’s good you cut it. Otherwise, they’d lump you in with Wen Xueman and gossip about the both of you non-stop.”

An Huan asked, “They gossip about Madam Chen that much? What do they say?”

Zhou Meihua didn’t have many true friends in the family quarters—only Liao Sanmei, but ever since Sanmei’s mother-in-law moved in and started controlling her every move, she hardly had time to chat. Now that An Huan was here, even though she was younger and a city girl, their personalities clicked, and Zhou Meihua had already started treating her like a close little sister.

Without hesitation, Zhou Meihua began spilling tea about the higher-ups’ households.

“Wen Xueman’s from Shanghai. When she first got here, she used to dance around the house and hug people all the time, even influenced some of the other wives in the compound to follow her as an example. Later, Commander Chen had a big fight with her, and only then did she stop acting out.”

She curled her lip.

“She still acts all high and mighty. Looks down on us military wives from the countryside. Last year during the New Year’s banquet in the canteen, everyone was making dumplings together, and she wouldn’t eat a single bite. Said she wasn’t hungry, but the moment she got home, she had her maid cook noodles for her… Basically, she thinks we’re dirty.”

That… really didn’t sound defensible.

Zhou Meihua followed An Huan into the Courtyard, chattering nonstop. The gossip eventually included others besides Wen Xueman. An Huan listened with great interest, and Zhou Meihua felt utterly satisfied, finally having someone to talk to again.

As it neared dinnertime, Zhou Meihua reluctantly said goodbye, already determined to come chat with An Huan more often.

An Huan was more than happy to oblige. No matter what environment she was in, gathering information was key to survival.

Gossip, at its core, was just the most primitive form of information exchange.

While his mother was chatting, Dongdong had run off to the backyard to watch ants.

A child’s first experience in a rural setting made everything seem novel and fascinating.

Seeing him so focused, An Huan let him be.

She went back inside, locked the door, and took out some cotton fabric from her space. She planned to sew a few sets of bed sheets and covers.

At a glance, these fabrics looked similar to those from the 1970s, but upon closer inspection, there were subtle differences in weaving and texture. The 70s cloth felt rougher and more durable…

But that didn’t really matter. If anyone asked, she could brush it off easily. No one would dig deep over a set of bed sheets.

On the way back from the county, she’d bought some fresh vegetables from a farmer by the gate of the family quarters. She also took out a piece of pork from her space, ready to put her cooking skills to the test.

There was already a full stack of firewood at home—probably something Xiao Zheng had bought in the morning. All the cooking essentials like oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar were also fully stocked.

An Huan could cook. After her parents divorced, she ate so much takeout she practically got sick of it, so she started learning to cook from online recipes.

But she’d overlooked one thing: all her past cooking experience involved gas stoves, rice cookers, and other modern appliances.

None of that existed in this era. Most critically, she had no idea how to work a firewood stove.

Fortunately, she was good with her hands. Following the method Xiao Zheng had shown her for lighting coal, she experimented step-by-step and finally managed to get the stove going.

…

Dongdong came running from the backyard, yelling in alarm, “Mommy, I smell something burning!”

He couldn’t find his mother at first. Then he saw thick smoke pouring out of the kitchen and ran toward it, only to start coughing from the smoke.

An Huan’s voice came from inside. “Dongdong, don’t come in!”

Dongdong panicked. “Mommy, is something on fire?”

“No! Go away, don’t stand there!”

Seeing that he was about to come in, An Huan quickly shut the kitchen door.

The moment the door closed, a shriek rang out from inside.

Dongdong didn’t know what had happened. Terrified, he turned and bolted outside.

The neighbors, hearing the commotion, all came rushing over.

Zhou Meihua, still holding a spatula, quickly asked, “What happened? What happened?”

Dongdong sobbed, pointing to his kitchen. “My mom’s inside…”

Zhou Meihua saw the smoke curling out the window and was horrified. She raised her spatula and ran straight into the house across the way.

Ge Hongying frowned and walked over. “Looks like there’s smoke. Let me go check.”

“She probably set the kitchen on fire because she doesn’t know how to cook,” muttered Ge Hongxia bitterly. An Huan didn’t know how to do anything, so how had she managed to marry Brother Xiao? But then she thought about the new match her sister had arranged for her, and the resentment eased slightly.

Old Madam Wang, who had tiptoed over to join the spectacle, overheard and exclaimed, “What? The Deputy Division Commander’s wife set the kitchen on fire?”

Ge Hongxia quickly said, “…I was just guessing! Don’t go spreading rumors!”

But Old Madam Wang was already darting off in a flash.

Before long, the news had spread throughout the family quarters.

“The Deputy Division Commander’s wife can’t cook and set the kitchen on fire.”

“She blew up the kitchen—burned her face!”

“…”

By the time the rumor reached the ears of the men just getting off work, it had morphed into: “There was an explosion at the Deputy Division Commander’s home. His wife’s face was destroyed, and she lost a leg.”

Commander Chen Gang turned to look at Xiao Zheng, about to say something, when a blur shot past him like lightning.

…That big guy could actually run faster than a rabbit?!