B5SB -Chapter 177 Military Wives Visit

At Noon, Gu Yihan finally got to eat food that actually tasted good. The pigeon soup that Grandma Gu had stewed was absolutely delicious.

She gave a thumbs-up and praised, “Grandma, your cooking is truly unbeatable.”

Grandma Gu shot her little granddaughter an exasperated glare.

“Haven’t you already eaten several during your confinement? I heard you complaining to Xiao Lu that the soup was tasteless.”

Gu Yihan laughed, put down her bowl and chopsticks, and walked over to sit beside Grandma, wrapping an arm around her and acting spoiled: “Grandma, your granddaughter knows she was wrong.”

Grandma Gu squinted at her fair, plump little granddaughter raised during her confinement. “Some people don’t know how lucky they are.”

Gu Yihan hurriedly nodded and smiled, agreeing: “Grandma, you’re absolutely right.”

“Knock, knock, knock.”

Hearing the knock at the door, Grandma Gu tapped the little granddaughter’s forehead and said with a smile, “Grandma will go answer the door.”

Watching Grandma leave the living room, Gu Yihan got up and went into the bedroom.

A moment later, Grandma Gu quietly opened the bedroom door: “Xiao Han, they’re here to see you.”

Gu Yihan tiptoed to the door and whispered to Grandma, “Grandma, the little one will probably wake up soon. Please watch him for a while.”

Grandma Gu nodded and entered the bedroom, while Gu Yihan turned and closed the door behind her.

She walked into the living room and saw three women sitting on the sofa, one of whom she didn’t recognize.

Curious, she asked, “You’re looking for me?”

Upon hearing her voice, Jiang Yue, Liu Aihua, and Li Duo all stood up and shouted in unison, “Sister-in-law!”

Gu Yihan was startled by their perfectly coordinated greeting.

Jiang Yue quickly smiled and introduced herself: “Sister-in-law, I’m Jiang Yue.”

She then pointed to a tall, fair-skinned woman beside her: “This is Liu Aihua.”

Hearing them call her sister-in-law, Gu Yihan realized they were all military wives and smiled, greeting Jiang Yue and Liu Aihua.

Li Duo, seeing that Jiang Yue hadn’t introduced her first, flashed a hint of displeasure and hurriedly said, “Gu Officer, I’m Li Duo, a worker at the textile factory.”

Gu Yihan glanced at Li Duo and could tell from her tanned skin that she had probably just arrived at the family compound. She smiled and nodded: “Hello.”

After chatting for a while, Gu Yihan finally understood: Jiang Yue’s husband was Cheng Changzheng, a deputy regiment commander.

Liu Aihua and Li Duo’s husbands were Ma Aiguo and Han Jiaguo, both battalion commanders. All three were soldiers under Lu Huailin.

“Gu Officer, you don’t know, but production at our factory has been great while you were home on confinement. All the fabric from our workshop has been sold to foreigners!” Li Duo waved her arms excitedly.

Gu Yihan smiled and replied, “Really?”

Before her maternity leave, she had already heard Hu Shan grumble about it for several days.

Because there was nowhere to dye the fabric, they used the office that had been arranged for her, which frustrated her and led to a long argument with Secretary Jiang.

Li Duo proudly said, “Exactly! The wages of us female workers in the workshop now aren’t even lower than those of officers like you.”

Gu Yihan: “…”

Jiang Yue glared at Li Duo and laughed, changing the topic: “Sister-in-law, we owe you thanks for helping us get into the textile factory.”

Liu Aihua quickly added, “Yes, Sister-in-law, it’s all thanks to you.”

“Otherwise, feeding the adults and kids on just rations would cost a lot. Now we can supplement our household income with what we earn.”

Gu Yihan didn’t have much to talk about with people she didn’t know well, so she smiled and said, “That’s all thanks to the army leadership, has nothing to do with me.”

At that moment, the little one in the bedroom began crying.

Grandma Gu’s voice soothing the child drifted into the living room.

Jiang Yue, being tactful, patted Liu Aihua and said as they stood, “Sister-in-law, it’s getting late. We should head back first.”

Seeing Li Duo reluctantly get up, Gu Yihan didn’t mind and cheerfully replied, “Alright, come visit again when you have time.”

After seeing the three off, Gu Yihan quickly went into the bedroom, took the little one from Grandma Gu, and sat on the bed to feed him.

Grandma Gu looked at the little one in her granddaughter’s arms and immediately stopped crying: “Look at that, so smart—he can already recognize people even though he’s just one month old.”

Gu Yihan smiled at Grandma Gu and then gazed lovingly at the nursing little one: “Grandma, after I go back to work, you’ll have to take care of him.”

Grandma Gu squinted at her granddaughter and smiled: “Such an adorable great-grandson, others would kill to see him. It’s not tiring at all.”

Gu Yihan didn’t believe it. The little one was growing fast—he weighed six pounds eight ounces at birth.

By the full month, he had gained four more pounds. Holding him for a long time now made her shoulders ache.

After thinking for a moment, she said, “Grandma, when Lu Huailin returns from his mission, have him make a baby carriage. When he wakes up, he can play in it by himself.”

Grandma Gu, knowing her granddaughter worried about her tiring herself, didn’t refuse: “Alright.”

Meanwhile…

Liu Aihua scolded Li Duo: “What was that attitude at Sister-in-law’s house?”

Jiang Yue gave Li Duo a cold look but said nothing.

She had already decided to keep her distance from Li Duo in the future—she couldn’t let such a foolish woman cause trouble.

Li Duo rolled her eyes at Liu Aihua.

“I wasn’t wrong! We both work at the textile factory, doesn’t that give us more to talk about?”

Liu Aihua fumed: “She’s an accountant at the factory! What would you even talk about? Only being a military wife gives you topics!”

Li Duo pushed Liu Aihua and said irritably: “Who cares about officers, the wages are about the same anyway. Maybe mine’s even higher.”

She was now earning thirty-two yuan a month, plus plenty of ration coupons—a dream she never thought possible.

Liu Aihua was about to reply when Jiang Yue tugged at her sleeve and asked with a smile, “Next break, should we go to Sister-in-law’s house together?”

Liu Aihua glanced at Li Duo, who pretended not to hear, and nodded: “Sure, we’re idle anyway.”

Jiang Yue laughed: “Exactly. If the kids at Sister-in-law’s weren’t so young, I’d even bring my little troublemaker along.”

Thinking of Jiang Yue’s son, Liu Aihua laughed—he was so mischievous that even a dog passing by would lose some fur.

Li Duo pouted at the two of them and muttered, “Brown-nosers.”

Soon, they arrived at Jiang Yue’s courtyard. After greeting Liu Aihua, Li Duo turned and left.

Liu Aihua couldn’t help herself and grabbed Li Duo’s arm.

She advised, “The military wives in the compound are a network. Since Sister-in-law helped us, it’s better to stay close to her.”

Li Duo immediately pulled her arm away, glaring at Liu Aihua: “Are you deaf? Gu Officer already said it was the army leadership’s credit, has nothing to do with her.”

Then she ignored her and walked off quickly.

Liu Aihua watched Li Duo’s back in frustration.

Her education level was similar to Li Duo’s—both only finished elementary school—and they were both assigned to the factory as female workers.

She had thought that since they were both military wives, they could support each other, but Li Duo didn’t care at all. Looks like it would be better to keep her distance from now on.