B5SB -Chapter 194 The First Day of the Lunar New Year

1971 passed day by day.

On the morning of the first day of the lunar new year,

Gu Yihan picked up the cotton jacket draped over the chair and shivered as she put it on, sighing at how warm it had been under the covers.

As she stepped out into the living room, she happened to see Grandma Gu handing out candy to a group of kids who had come to pay their New Year greetings.

She stomped her foot, feeling the comfort of the handmade cotton shoes on her feet.

“Grandma, do you know all these kids?”

Grandma Gu heard her granddaughter’s voice, turned around, and smiled at her: “I know them. You two aren’t home during the day, so they often come over to play.”

“Especially that boy at the very front, Tiedan. All the firewood in our house now was brought by him.”

Gu Yihan thought of the thin boy standing at the front and asked in puzzlement, “Does he have a lot of siblings?”

Grandma Gu laughed: “Deputy Battalion Commander Ding only has that one child. But that kid, Tiedan, doesn’t grow fat; no matter how much he eats, he’s still as thin as a broomstick.”

After saying that, she couldn’t help but laugh.

At first, she had also thought Tiedan’s stepmother was mistreating him and even asked the military wives in the residential compound, but it turned out his stepmother treated him well.

Gu Yihan nodded and didn’t ask further, going to the kitchen to fetch some warm water and start her morning routine.

Once she was done, she walked behind Grandma Gu and softly asked, “Grandma, did Lu Huailin go out with Haohao?”

Grandma Gu was tidying the yard. Hearing her granddaughter’s question, she replied, “Little Lu took him to pay New Year greetings at Instructor Tang’s house.”

A trace of doubt appeared in Gu Yihan’s eyes.

It was a bit strange that Lu Huailin went to Instructor Tang’s house instead of Instructor Hu’s, but she didn’t think too much of it.

After finishing hanging up the laundry, Grandma Gu fed the chickens while urging, “Xiaohan, stop standing there. There are some dumplings saved for you in the kitchen.”

“What? Dumplings too?!” Gu Yihan’s face instantly fell.

Grandma Gu gave her a sidelong glance: “Just be secretly happy you get to eat dumplings.”

Gu Yihan walked to the kitchen listlessly, beginning to regret taking out the flour from the space.

She had made Grandma Gu think she was skilled enough to get fine flour through special channels.

The consequence was that, since Little New Year, the dumplings at home had been served in various forms: tofu and cabbage with vermicelli, radish with vermicelli…

When they finally had mushroom and meat dumplings, it was no exaggeration to say that Grandma Gu divided one pound of meat for their whole family for two days.

She had to use a magnifying glass to find the filling.

Gu Yihan didn’t dislike dumplings, but having to eat them every day during the New Year was a bit much—they’d be eating them until the fifth day!

“Grandma, is my sister-in-law home?”

Grandma Gu was gathering the trash in the yard to dispose of it after the fifth day.

Suddenly hearing Jiang Yue’s voice, she was so startled that the trash she had just gathered spilled everywhere.

Grandma Gu frowned, looked at Jiang Yue, and her gaze landed on the items Jiang Yue was carrying, causing her brow to furrow.

“She’s inside!”

After saying this, she ignored Jiang Yue. Who brings gifts to someone’s house on the first day of the New Year?

She had caused her trash to scatter and couldn’t even sweep it up.

Gu Yihan had just finished eating dumplings and hadn’t even sat down yet when she heard footsteps and looked up to see Jiang Yue.

“Sister-in-law, you’re getting more and more beautiful,” Jiang Yue said, immediately stepping forward and warmly linking arms with Gu Yihan.

Gu Yihan was stunned, not understanding what Jiang Yue was up to.

Usually, she and Liu Aihua were together every day, so why had Jiang Yue come on her own today?

But since she was here, it wouldn’t be right to send her away.

Smiling, she said, “Come, sit down and rest. It’s not a short walk from your place to mine!”

Jiang Yue smiled and placed the items she had brought on the dining table.

She turned to Gu Yihan with a smile and said, “I didn’t know what you like to eat, so I bought some canned food and malted milk powder.”

Gu Yihan frowned at the items on the table. These things weren’t cheap and were hard to get even with ration tickets.

She went to the table, picked up the thermos, made a cup of brown sugar water for Jiang Yue, who was sitting on the sofa, and handed it to her.

Jiang Yue took the cup, sipped a bit, and said, “Sister-in-law, congratulations.”

Gu Yihan didn’t understand the abrupt comment, looking at her in confusion. What congratulations?

Seeing that Gu Yihan didn’t respond, Jiang Yue thought she was being cautious and didn’t want to boast.

Finally, she couldn’t resist asking, “Sister-in-law, who is Commander Lu planning to recommend to succeed him?”

Succeed Lu Huailin’s position?

Gu Yihan’s eyes flashed with vigilance. “Sister Jiang, you must be joking. Lu Huailin never discusses military affairs at home.”

Jiang Yue didn’t know whether Gu Yihan was pretending not to know or didn’t want to tell her.

She stared straight into her eyes and smiled: “Sister-in-law, we’ve known each other for so long, and you still don’t know me? I’m the most tight-lipped.”

Gu Yihan’s eye twitched. Jiang Yue was really bluffing—they had known each other less than seven months.

And they had met only a handful of times.

Ignoring Gu Yihan’s cold distance, Jiang Yue boldly took her hand and whispered, “Sister-in-law, just satisfy your sister-in-law’s curiosity, okay?”

“What’s going on here?”

Lu Huailin’s deep voice sounded, frowning as he looked at Jiang Yue, whose lips were nearly pressed against his wife’s face.

Disgusting. He wondered if that ugly woman even had bad breath.

Gu Yihan quickly pulled her hand back, stood, and went to Lu Huailin, lifting the blanket covering their little one’s head and making a funny face at him.

“Ha ha…”

The little one laughed endlessly.

Jiang Yue watched Gu Yihan interacting with her family of three.

She didn’t understand how Lu Huailin had come back so quickly. She had hoped to take advantage of his absence to probe Gu Yihan for information.

Lu Huailin handed the child to Gu Yihan, picked up a towel from the shelf by the door, and carefully wiped the little one’s cheeks.

Seeing Lu Huailin’s actions, Jiang Yue stiffened and forced a smile: “Sister-in-law, it’s getting late. My Changzheng must be waiting anxiously at home.”

Hearing this, Gu Yihan immediately handed the little one to Lu Huailin.

She ran to the dining table, picked up the net bag, and handed it to Jiang Yue: “Sister-in-law, take this home for your child.”

Jiang Yue refused: “Sister-in-law, this is for you!”

Gu Yihan didn’t argue and directly took her hand, placing the net bag into it: “No reward without merit.”

“Our family doesn’t lack these things, and my wife doesn’t even like malted milk powder,” Lu Huailin said coldly without lifting his eyelids.

Hearing this, Jiang Yue looked at Lu Huailin, who had been scowling since entering, and didn’t dare to say anything.

Although she had her own small intentions, her gratitude toward Gu Yihan for buying the items was genuine. Without her, she wouldn’t have had such a good job.