Chapter 153: Like a Dream
Sheng Wanyan dropped the question directly into his lap, and Gu Tingxiao fell into deep thought.
Cooking outdoors was perfectly fine during the balmy summer months, but winter in the north was a completely different story. If it poured rain or blizzarded, his wife couldn’t possibly be expected to cook while shivering in the freezing cold and wet.
“Wife, when the weather starts to turn, I’ll reinforce the kitchen structure,” he said after a moment. “I’ll cut some extra bamboo from the mountains to build walls around it. If I weave a few large bamboo mats and secure them tightly to the frame, the biting winter wind won’t be able to pierce through. As for the roof, I’ll tile it properly.”
Hearing his detailed plan, Wanyan had to admit that her husband was incredibly resourceful.
“It sounds like a lot of heavy lifting for one person,” she noted gently. “Can you ask a few of your comrades to help out?”
To her, the project sounded grueling, but to Gu Tingxiao, it was minor labor. Cutting a bit of bamboo and weaving it into mats was standard, straightforward work he could easily manage while sitting down.
“It’s not tiring at all. It’s actually very simple,” he reassured her.
Then, remembering a major flaw that neither of them had noticed, he added, “There’s currently no roof over the path leading from the kitchen to the living room. If it rains or snows, any food you carry inside will get ruined. I’ll build a covered walkway out of bamboo to connect the two buildings, shielding it with woven bamboo mats as well.”
Wanyan truly hadn’t expected him to think so far ahead. She hadn’t even considered the exposure between the two doors. Seeing how meticulously he was planning for her comfort warmed her heart thoroughly, melting away the lingering homesickness she felt after leaving her family behind in the city.
Gu Tingxiao drove the borrowed military truck to a modest courtyard house on the outskirts and knocked firmly on the wooden gate.
“Uncle Chen, I’m here to commission some furniture.”
The moment he spoke, the gate swung open to reveal a simple, honest-looking man in his early fifties.
“Come on in and sit down,” Uncle Chen welcomed them warmly. He poured them each a cup of hot tea, a broad, genial smile lighting up his face as his eyes drifted to Wanyan. “Xiao Gu, is this your new bride?”
“Yes, Uncle Chen.”
“Good, good. Now that you’ve built a family, you must treat your wife with the utmost care.”
Uncle Chen was the resident carpenter for the base’s family compound; whenever anyone needed furniture, they came straight to him. His craftsmanship was exceptional, and his attention to detail was legendary. Over the years, he had grown incredibly close with the soldiers, and everyone on the base respected him as a beloved elder.
“So, what kind of furniture are we looking to make today?”
Wanyan handed over her list and verbally walked him through her specific requirements. Uncle Chen pulled out a pencil and paper to jot down the dimensions. When he heard that she only wanted bare wooden frames for a sofa and armchairs, he looked momentarily bewildered.
Once Wanyan explained that she intended to sew and stuff her own custom cushions to fit the frames, his bewilderment turned into pure admiration for her creativity. However, he couldn’t help but think that such a setup required a wealthy household; using pure cotton batting just to make sofa cushions was an incredible luxury in these lean times.
“The main sofa frame needs to be 420 millimeters deep, and long enough to comfortably seat about six people,” Wanyan specified. “The individual armchair frames should be the same depth.”
Uncle Chen nodded rapidly, his pencil flying across the notepad. “Understood. Are you in a hurry for these?”
Gu Tingxiao nodded, asking if it would be possible to expedite the order.
“I can have everything ready for you in three days,” Uncle Chen promised with a wave of his hand. “The designs are straightforward, so it’s no trouble at all. I’ll even haul them over to your courtyard myself once they’re finished.”
“Thank you for taking this on, Uncle Chen. We appreciate it.”
Uncle Chen chuckled, dismissing the gratitude. He wasn’t doing charity work, after all; it was a fair, consensual business transaction. “Alright, how about fifty yuan for the whole lot?”
It was a highly generous neighborly discount. He was barely making a profit on the materials alone. Wanyan reached into her satchel, counted out fifty yuan, and handed the bills to him with a smile.
The couple didn’t linger long, as they still needed to hit the supply and marketing cooperative before the clerks closed up for the evening.
Wanyan was highly goal-oriented. The moment they arrived at the cooperative, she went straight for the big-ticket items, purchasing a sewing machine and a radio. Turning her attention to provisions, she picked up two kilograms of pork, several kilograms of pork fat to render into cooking oil, two kilograms of fresh vegetables, five kilograms of rice, and two kilograms of flour. She also stocked up on soy sauce, salt, and various other essential seasonings, taking full advantage of having a truck to transport the heavy load.
“We also need to pick up some fabric, cotton batting, and soap nuts,” she reminded Tingxiao.
He nodded, steering her toward the textiles section. Thanks to Mother Gu, they were flushed with cloth coupons. Before they left the Capital, Mother Gu had showered Wanyan with an abundance of supply coupons, even going out of her way to trade with acquaintances to get exactly what the newlyweds would need. Since Mother Gu had provided similar bundles when her eldest and fourth sons got married, no one in the family could grumble about favoritism.
Wanyan rounded out her shopping spree with kitchen essentials, including a large assortment of pots, pans, and three sturdy ceramic stew pots. She knew they would be hosting a housewarming dinner for Tingxiao’s comrades in a few days, which meant they would need plenty of tableware. As for the actual ingredients for the feast, she decided to wait; buying everything today would be too overwhelming. Finally, she purchased two small coal stoves and a large supply of coal briquettes.
Satisfied that she hadn’t missed anything crucial, she and Gu Tingxiao loaded the truck. The cooperative staff volunteered to carry the heavy sewing machine to the military base entrance, where Tingxiao could easily retrieve it later.
By the time they rolled back into the family compound, it was already six in the evening. Gu Tingxiao immediately set to work unpacking and organizing their purchases, while Wanyan stepped into the kitchen to prepare dinner.
She measured out a generous portion of rice into one of the new ceramic pots to steam over the fire. Knowing Tingxiao had a massive appetite after a long day of labor, she made sure to cook extra grains. She kept the dishes simple: a lean plate of stir-fried vegetables and a fragrant skillet of braised pork. Tingxiao didn’t care in the slightest that it was a simple two-course meal, devouring his food with immense relish.
The sheer exhaustion of the transition finally caught up to them. Wanyan was so spent that the moment her head hit the pillow, she plunged into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Gu Tingxiao returned to the bedroom later, his skin still damp from a hot shower. Seeing his wife sleeping so deeply and peacefully on the kang, a profound sense of contentment settled over him. He had finally brought her home, safe and firmly by his side.
He thoroughly dried his short crew cut with a towel, blew out the lantern, and slid under the quilt. Pulling his wife securely into his arms, he closed his eyes and drifted off, completely at peace.
When Wanyan opened her eyes the next morning, her mind was a complete blank. She blinked sleepily, staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling and the rustic walls of the room. It took her several long seconds to piece her reality back together: she had followed Gu Tingxiao to the northern frontier.
They were in their own home now. Just yesterday morning, she had been a weary passenger confined to a cramped train bunk; today, she woke up as a registered military wife living in the compound. The rapid shift felt entirely like a dream.
She checked her watch and saw it was seven o’clock. Tingxiao would usually be out on the training grounds for morning drills by this hour.
As she squatted in the backyard to brush her teeth, the wooden gate creaked open, and Gu Tingxiao walked in carrying two aluminum lunch boxes. He had personally gone to the base cafeteria to fetch breakfast, wanting his wife to get as much rest as possible after their grueling journey.
Seeing she was already awake and washed, he neatly set out the meal on the desk. He had brought back two boiled eggs, three steamed sweet potatoes, and two plump meat buns. While she sat down to eat, he busied himself brewing her a warm, rich cup of malted milk.
Today was the final day of Tingxiao’s wedding leave. He planned to spend the afternoon heading up into the mountains to harvest fresh bamboo so he could begin building the bedroom storage racks she wanted.
“We should use our backyard to start a vegetable garden,” Wanyan suggested between bites, gesturing toward the open space outside. She hated the thought of leaving such fertile ground idle.
“Wife, the base actually allocates a separate, private plot of land to each household for farming,” Tingxiao explained. “Ours is located just behind the main tube buildings.”
The modern multi-story tube buildings sat about eight hundred meters ahead of their freestanding courtyard. Whenever anyone entered the housing estate from the main base, they had to pass the apartments first before reaching the secluded cluster of courtyards.
Only a handful of families lived in these courtyard houses—typically officers with larger households who required more physical space. The beauty of the layout was the distance; each courtyard was separated by a generous fifty-meter buffer zone. They weren’t crammed wall-to-wall against their neighbors, meaning Wanyan could go about her daily life without the constant dread of nosy neighbors peeking over the fence to spy on them.
Their assigned garden plot lay in the fertile stretch between the apartments and their house. While the parcel wasn’t massive, it was more than enough to cultivate a steady supply of fresh produce for a household of two. Knowing they could easily meet their daily needs with their own hands was more than enough to satisfy Sheng Wanyan.
