Chapter 28: Heading to the Military Base, Returning to Heilongjiang

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Gu Wen-nuan left the station and prepared to return to the guesthouse to pack her luggage.

She put the money she had earned this time into her storage space to keep it safe from thieves on the train. There were simply too many pickpockets aboard trains these days; in the blink of an eye, they could slash open your clothes and make off with your belongings.

Carrying her parcel, Gu Wen-nuan was walking toward the station when a military vehicle drove past her just after she reached the ground floor.

Only then did she remember that Zhou Si-nian was serving in the army in Shan Province. Since she was already there, she might as well go and see her husband, whom she had never even met.

Gu Wen-nuan did not know where the military base was, so she deliberately went to the department store to ask Qin Ai-wen.

After buying a gift, she headed to the department store. Qin Ai-wen was delighted to see her. The whitening cream Gu Wen-nuan made was famous throughout Shan Province. Qin Ai-wen valued talent above all else and had wanted to recruit her, but Gu Wen-nuan had no such intention, and Qin Ai-wen could hardly force her.

“Wen-nuan, what brings you to Shan Province?”

Gu Wen-nuan handed her the gift. “I came to take care of something. Auntie, do you know where the military base in Shan Province is? I want to go see my husband.”

“So your husband is serving in the army here in Shan Province. That’s wonderful. The base is in the suburbs. I’ll have your uncle take you there.”

Gu Wen-nuan refused several times, but in the end, Qin Ai-wen’s husband, Zhang Zhong-hai, drove her to the entrance of the base.

“Little Gu, I’ll wait here for you. Or are you planning to stay the night?”

Gu Wen-nuan felt terribly embarrassed. “Uncle, you should go back first. I’ve already taken up too much of your time.”

Zhang Zhong-hai handed her the things Qin Ai-wen had sent along, then drove away.

Gu Wen-nuan went to the entrance of the base and questioned the sentry.

“Comrade, this is a military installation. Unauthorized personnel are not permitted to enter.”

“I’m here to see my husband. His name is Zhou Si-nian.”

Wang Jia-hui happened to be on guard duty that day. He was one of Zhou Si-nian’s soldiers. Five years earlier, he had heard that their battalion commander had married an ugly, fat wife, and he had often heard the other soldiers mock him over it.

Wang Jia-hui glanced at Gu Wen-nuan. She was indeed rather plump, but she was not ugly. Her features were even fairly delicate. Still, she was nowhere near as beautiful as Lin Nian-qing from the army art troupe. A woman like Lin Nian-qing was the only one worthy of his battalion commander.

Thinking of his commander in the hospital, Wang Jia-hui figured there was already someone taking care of him. Surely he did not need his wife.

“Comrade, I’m sorry, but I cannot give you any information about Battalion Commander Zhou. Please leave.”

Gu Wen-nuan had already understood the situation when the soldier began looking her over. Clearly, the fact that Zhou Si-nian had married her had spread throughout the army. Otherwise, why would this man be staring at her with such contempt?

Gu Wen-nuan hated being looked at that way. She glared at him, then passed on the message Hu Ai-lian had entrusted to her.

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“All right, then. If you see Zhou Si-nian, please tell him to take this letter home. His mother misses him terribly.”

Furious, Gu Wen-nuan left the base. She felt like an utter fool. Why had she come all this way just to make herself miserable?

Not long after she left, Li Jie-fang arrived carrying a change of clothes and prepared to go to the hospital.

“Jia-hui, who was that woman?”

“She said she was Battalion Commander Zhou’s wife. I didn’t tell her that the commander was hospitalized. What if she starts clinging to him?”

Li Jie-fang said nothing more and left the base for the hospital. When he arrived, the doctor had just come out of the ward, so Li Jie-fang hurried over to ask about the patient.

“The patient still has no signs of regaining consciousness. You should talk to him more while you’re at his side and try to awaken him.”

After the doctor left, Li Jie-fang entered the ward. A tall, strikingly beautiful woman was sitting beside the bed.

“Comrade Lin, you should go home. I’ll take care of the commander.”

Lin Nian-qing held Zhou Si-nian’s hand and gazed at him tenderly. He was the youngest and most promising man in the entire army. How could she not be moved by him?

“Comrade Li, is there still any hope for Si-nian’s leg? What did the doctor say?”

Li Jie-fang could not bear hearing that question. If not for him, the commander would never have been injured. He should have been sweating it out on the training field, not lying unconscious in a hospital bed.

“Comrade Lin, the commander may not be able to keep his leg. For now, we have to do everything we can to wake him. Once he regains consciousness, there will still be hope for everything else.”

When Lin Nian-qing heard that Zhou Si-nian might become disabled, she hurriedly suppressed the feelings in her heart. No matter how outstanding he was, she could not accept the thought of him spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair, needing someone to care for even his most basic bodily needs.

“Comrade Li, I’ll be leaving now.”

After Lin Nian-qing departed, Li Jie-fang wiped Zhou Si-nian’s body and changed him into clean clothes.

Zhou Si-nian could sense what was happening around him, but he was unable to open his eyes. All he could do was lie helplessly in bed.

After leaving the base, Gu Wen-nuan hurried to the train station. Her face remained taut the entire way, and in her heart she cursed Zhou Si-nian ten thousand times.

“Humph! Wretched man. As if I care about you! Just wait until you come back—I’m divorcing you!”

She swore aloud, making the people nearby assume she was mentally ill. They kept as far away from her as possible.

Gu Wen-nuan spent two clattering days on the train before finally reaching Hei Province. After getting off, she did not hurry home. Instead, she went first to Qin Fang-fang’s house, delivered the things Qin Ai-wen had sent, and took twenty eggs out of her storage space.

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Qin Ai-wen had told her that Qin Fang-fang was pregnant. Gu Wen-nuan did not bring anything expensive, afraid Qin Fang-fang would refuse it. Instead, she brought twenty eggs and two bags of malted milk powder to her home.

Qin Fang-fang had suffered from morning sickness ever since becoming pregnant. She had taken several days off work and was resting at home.

“Who is it?” Qin Fang-fang called upon hearing the knock.

“It’s me, Gu Wen-nuan.”

Qin Fang-fang rented a house near the textile mill. It had its own small courtyard, but the one drawback was that it stood close to a major transport road in Hei Province. Vehicles passed back and forth all day, making it noisy and rather unsafe.

Qin Fang-fang opened the door and invited Gu Wen-nuan inside.

“What brings you here? I heard from my aunt that you went to Shan Province.”

Gu Wen-nuan set down the things she was carrying. “I had some business to take care of there. I just got off the train. I heard you were pregnant, so I came especially to see you. This fabric is from my aunt.”

“You came to visit, and you still brought all this.” Qin Fang-fang poured her a cup of sugared water to quench her thirst.

Then Qin Fang-fang took out a small notebook and handed it to Gu Wen-nuan.

“These are the people who ordered whitening cream this month. Everyone has given excellent feedback, and they’ve introduced many new customers. There are a full one hundred and twenty orders.”

Gu Wen-nuan looked at the notes Qin Fang-fang had kept. They were detailed and neat. She was truly capable.

“Fang-fang, once you finish these orders, don’t accept any more for the time being. I’m planning to go into the mountains to gather medicinal herbs. The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon as well, and I’m thinking of making mooncakes. Ask around and see whether anyone wants some. I’ll tell you how to make the fillings when the time comes.”

“Mooncakes? Everyone eats mixed-nut mooncakes, but I don’t like the candied fruit strips inside.” Qin Fang-fang remembered how, every year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, her mother gave all the mooncakes to her younger brother. Even after they grew moldy, she still would not let Qin Fang-fang have any. This year, she was determined to eat her fill.

Gu Wen-nuan did not like mixed-nut mooncakes either. “I’m planning to make date paste and red bean fillings. I’ll save several for you.”

After chatting with Qin Fang-fang, Gu Wen-nuan had her lock the door and then set off for the Fengtian Brigade.

On the way, she climbed Daqing Mountain to visit her old friends. Ever since the pack of wolves had entered her storage space, they had refused to come out again. Life with an endless buffet had been far too wonderful. Gu Wen-nuan had not indulged them, however, and before leaving for Shan Province, she had released them onto Daqing Mountain.

When Gu Wen-nuan arrived, the leader of the wolf pack was training the younger wolves. The moment he saw her, he came racing over, behaving no differently from a husky.

Gu Wen-nuan took pork from her storage space and distributed it among the wolves. She also took ten pounds of meat and several sets of clothing suited to the era, then began walking toward the Fengtian Brigade.

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