Chapter 163: Gu Tingxiao Wants to Eat Meat
It was already five o’clock in the evening by the time Sheng Wanyan made it back to the family compound. Since Gu Tingxiao got off work at half past five, she had to hurry home to start dinner.
Carrying her heavy basket, she rushed inside, bolted the courtyard door from the inside, and began pulling the extra supplies out of her pocket dimension.
Wanyan got the rice and fire going first before turning her attention to organizing the kitchen. Because Uncle Chen hadn’t delivered their cabinets yet, she had to make do, neatly arranging her jars and dry goods across the bamboo storage rack. She then took a thick cord, tied the fresh meat securely, and hung the slabs along the kitchen wall to keep them off the counters. Just as she finished wiping down the space, Gu Tingxiao returned from the barracks.
“Wife, open up,” his deep voice called out from the front yard.
Hearing him, Wanyan washed her hands and ran out to unbolt the door. She had fastened the latch from the inside, meaning Tingxiao couldn’t get in even with his key. Short of scaling the wall—a stunt that would probably make unprecedented history in the residential compound—he was stuck outside.
The moment Gu Tingxiao saw the heavy wooden door swing open, his face softened. He had missed his wife terribly after being apart for the entire day.
“Wife, let me handle dinner. Go sit down and have a rest,” he said, stepping inside. He knew she had endured a long, grueling trip to the city, and he was more than capable of handling a stove.
“Alright,” Wanyan agreed, not putting up a fight. Riding in the back of that bumpy procurement truck for hours had indeed left her exhausted. “There’s some leftover pheasant from yesterday. You can just stir-fry a plate of fresh greens and steam some egg custard to go with it.”
Tingxiao nodded, but the moment he stepped into the kitchen, he froze in surprise at the sheer volume of provisions filling the room.
“Wife, how did you manage to buy so many things? Are you completely worn out?”
He couldn’t begin to imagine how her delicate frame had hauled such a heavy load back, or how difficult the journey must have been for her.
“It wasn’t that bad. I only had to carry it for a little while,” she explained with a smile.
In truth, she had only lugged the basket from the cooperative to the truck, and during the ride, the heavy pack had sat flat on the iron floor. Once they arrived back at the base, the driver had dropped the wives off right at the residential gates, as the logistics route ran directly past the compound. She wasn’t actually pushed to her absolute limit, but in front of Gu Tingxiao, she subconsciously found herself acting a little spoiled.
“Wife, if the house needs anything else in the future, just tell me,” Tingxiao said seriously. “I’ll find a way to have one of the logistics guys bring it back on a supply run so you don’t tire yourself out.”
Wanyan nodded politely, though she secretly had no intention of troubling his comrades. In this era, asking for favors always came with strings attached. If someone later tried to use a simple errand to morally blackmail her or Tingxiao, it would be an absolute nightmare. Still, she agreed on the surface; as long as she didn’t explicitly ask for anything, Tingxiao wouldn’t go out of his way to bother others.
Wanyan sat down at her desk and began running fabric through her sewing machine to construct the sofa covers. She wanted to get the outer shells sewn and washed tonight so they could dry in time to be stuffed with cotton batting tomorrow. Meanwhile, Tingxiao busied himself in the kitchen. By dividing and conquering, they were rapidly turning the bare house into a proper home.
In her mind, the archaic notion that a husband shouldn’t lift a finger at home because he earned the income was absolute nonsense. A home didn’t belong to just one person, and a marriage of two required both partners to invest equal care. If Gu Tingxiao expected her to handle every single household chore alone, she might as well live by herself. Besides, her translation work brought in an income that easily rivaled his. If it ever came down to it, she could comfortably bankroll the family while he managed the cooking and cleaning.
Gu Tingxiao, of course, had no idea his wife’s thoughts were wandering into such radical territory.
Whipping up a set of sofa covers was an easy task with a modern sewing machine, and Wanyan finished the dark blue covers in under half an hour.
With that completed, she looked over at the bedroom window. Her writing desk sat right beneath it, and during the early morning hours, the direct sunlight was blinding. She decided to temporarily paste newspapers over the glass, but she ultimately planned to sew a thick set of fabric curtains to block out the light so she could sleep more comfortably.
When Tingxiao noticed her measuring the frame, he immediately went out to help her forage a sturdy wooden rod to hang the fabric. He also tracked down a few iron rings, sliding them onto the rod after Wanyan neatly punched matching eyelets through the curtain cloth. The rings ensured the fabric would glide smoothly across the wood without getting snagged.
“Dinner’s ready, wife,” Tingxiao called out, carrying the hot dishes into the room and serving her a fluffy bowl of white rice.
Wanyan brushed the loose thread and fabric scraps off her trousers, stood up, and joined him at the table. Tingxiao immediately spooned a generous portion of the silky egg custard onto her rice and picked out the choicest, tender pieces of pheasant for her bowl.
“Eat your own food, don’t keep piling it in my bowl,” she laughed, nudging his hand away. While her appetite was healthy, eating too many rich pieces of meat back-to-back made her feel a bit squeamish.
“Wife, I put the two fresh fish you bought into a bucket of water in the yard to keep them alive,” Tingxiao reported between mouthfuls. “And during our noon recess, I swung by the agricultural department to trade for some vegetable seeds. Take a look later and see if this is enough.”
He had managed to secure a comprehensive variety: cabbage, chili flakes, green peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, radishes, pumpkins, and cucumbers.
Wanyan looked over the small paper packets and nodded, thoroughly satisfied. Since it was just the two of them eating, they didn’t need a massive commercial yield; a simple, varied home garden was perfect. “This is great. I’ll start planting them in the backyard tomorrow morning.”
“By the way, Uncle Chen mentioned he’ll be delivering the wooden furniture tomorrow afternoon,” Tingxiao added. “Make sure you’re home to unlock the gate for him.”
“I will,” Wanyan nodded. Then, pausing, she looked across the table at him. “There’s actually something I wanted to get your opinion on.”
Tingxiao immediately set his chopsticks down, rested his hands flat on his thighs, and gave her his undivided, serious attention. “Go ahead, wife. I’m listening.”
“I’ve finished sewing the custom sofa cushions,” Wanyan said, a trace of hesitation in her voice. “But do you think the neighbors will look at a plush cotton sofa and think we’re being far too extravagant?”
During the lean years of the 1970s, fabric and pure cotton batting were heavily rationed, precious commodities. Given Tingxiao’s visible leadership position on the base, she worried that displaying such comfort might invite jealousy or leave him vulnerable to political targeting.
Gu Tingxiao’s brows knit together, his expression turning incredibly firm as he answered her. “Wife, we are living our own lives. It doesn’t matter a lick what the neighbors whisper behind our backs. Besides, we earned our resources honestly and stand completely upright; we have absolutely nothing to fear from our own shadows. The base leadership isn’t foolish.”
His base salary as a deputy regimental commander was a solid eighty yuan a month, and when factored in with his deployment bonuses, he comfortably brought home nearly a hundred yuan. For a household of only two people, living a comfortable, high-quality life was basic math. Even if a few envious neighbors tried to stir up trouble or file a report, the generals at the military district headquarters weren’t blind. They knew exactly what his official pay grade was. And if the local proctors ever truly lost their minds and tried to manufacture a case against him, Grandpa Gu would personally march down from the capital to demand an explanation.
Hearing his rock-solid assurance, Wanyan felt the lingering knot of worry in her chest completely unravel. Between his formidable family background and her own steady influx of translation royalties, they possessed an ironclad financial cushion. Even if an individual with ulterior motives tried to sabotage them, they held more than enough capital to completely turn the tables.
“Alright,” she smiled, feeling a wave of relief. With Tingxiao shielding her so fiercely, she didn’t need to tread quite so cautiously. He was right; a marriage was about building their own happiness. If her own husband was completely on board, why should she waste energy worrying about the opinions of strangers?
Once dinner concluded, Tingxiao seamlessly took charge of the cleanup, carrying the empty dishes out to the well. Wanyan went to get a fire going under the stove to heat water for her bath, and once it reached a rolling boil, Tingxiao carried the heavy bucket into the master bedroom for her.
With the steaming bathwater settled in the wooden tub, Gu Tingxiao didn’t make a move to leave, standing by the door and looking at her with an absolute, eager hunger in his eyes.
They had been at the family compound for three days now without a single moment of privacy, and before that, they had spent a grueling week confined to a crowded train carriage. It had been nearly ten full days since he had been allowed to properly hold his wife.
“Wife…” he murmured, his voice dropping into a low, pleading register.
Hearing the sudden shift in his tone, Wanyan felt a wave of goosebumps instantly prickle across her skin. She pointed a firm finger toward the exit. “You… get out.”
She wasn’t about to fall for his tragic, pouting act. Having survived the initial days after their wedding, she was well aware of exactly how insatiable and relentless this man could be the moment he got her beneath the sheets. If it weren’t for the hidden restorative properties of her pocket dimension’s spiritual spring water, she truly wouldn’t have the stamina to survive his nightly passions.
