Chapter 46: Well, Well, the Fish Is Comin’
For the sake of Section Chief Tang’s reputation, Director Yang had no choice but to accord Lin Wan this face.
However, she still offered a piece of gentle warning: “Comrade Little Lin.”
“You have just started working. In the future, try your best not to request leave.”
Lin Wan nodded repeatedly in a hurry. “Mmhmm, I’ll keep that in mind!”
“Then I’ll be off. Goodbye, Director Yang!”
Director Yang: “…”
It feels like she didn’t internalize a word.
The moment Lin Wan stepped out of the Tuanjie Office, she spotted Huang Guixiang chatting away with a street cleaner across the road. Seeing her approach, Huang Guixiang pointed at her and bragged proudly to the cleaner, “Big Sister Liu, this is my daughter. Today is her very first day on the job!”
“Wanwan, hurry and greet Auntie Liu. Auntie Liu is the street cleaner responsible for sweeping these few streets. You two will be seeing each other around all the time from now on.”
Auntie Liu’s eyes lit up the instant she saw Lin Wan. “Oh my, your daughter is truly exceptional-looking! Does she have a partner yet?”
“If not, this auntie can introduce someone to you—my maternal nephew. His conditions are incredibly grand—he’s an apprentice worker at the nitrogen fertilizer plant! He has sharp features and is very tall too, a whole one meter seventy-two!”
Lin Wan said with a smile, “Hello, Auntie Liu. I am married. My partner is in the military.”
Ah? Married! And a military marriage at that. No chance then.
“Mom, let’s go!” Lin Wan ushered Huang Guixiang onto the bicycle and sped off with her on the back.
Huang Guixiang tugged at her clothes from behind, rolling her eyes. “What kind of person is she? She should take a good look at herself in the mirror before opening her mouth to introduce her maternal nephew to you!”
“What kind of man with those conditions dares to even bring it up!”
Lin Wan was amused by her. “Mom, then why were you still chatting so intensely with her?”
Huang Guixiang said, “What do you know!”
“People like them who sweep the streets know the gossip of these blocks inside out!”
“Chatting with her for just a short while has given me a solid grasp of the situations of several people in your office!”
“That Director Yang of yours is infertile. Her mother-in-law once came to the office threatening to hang herself, forcing Director Yang to divorce her son.”
“Later, her son dragged his mother away. After that, she actually had to bring her widowed sister-in-law to live with them and register a son born to the sister-in-law under her own name before the matter finally quieted down.”
“Furthermore, that Deputy Director Sun is a total henpecked husband…”
“The husband of Section Leader Qu from the counter died last year…”
“Section Leader Qi made her sixteen-year-old daughter go down to the countryside in place of her eighteen-year-old son. As a result, the eighteen-year-old son secretly found a partner behind her back and accompanied the partner down to the countryside anyway, even getting married there.”
“Now her daughter loathes her and refuses to acknowledge her, and her son was lured away to the countryside too…”
“Section Leader Zhang’s son loves to beat his wife, and her maternal family has come to cause a scene several times…”
Lin Wan: “…” I am genuinely impressed.
“Is that real or fake? Rumors are usually twisted as they spread!”
Huang Guixiang said, “Who cares if it’s real or fake? The vast majority of them have a grain of truth.”
“Let Mom tell you, people whose lives aren’t running smoothly have foul tempers. You must be careful around them and don’t suffer a loss!”
“If anyone truly bullies you, just blow the matter up as much as possible. You are a military dependent, the wife of a regiment commander. What the hell are you afraid of!”
Lin Wan quickly nodded and agreed, “Alright! I’ll listen to Mom!”
Half an hour later, Lin Wan pulled up outside a state-owned restaurant near the city supply and marketing cooperative.
She went to park the bicycle, while Huang Guixiang looked at the entrance of the state-owned restaurant, her heart thumping with anxiety. “Daughter, we certainly can’t eat at a state-owned restaurant again!”
“Why don’t we just head home to eat? You mentioned the appointment is at two o’clock. If we head home to eat right now, we’ll still make it in time!”
Lin Wan held her back, lowering her voice to speak to her: “Mom, I was superficial in the past and underestimated Huo Xiao’s wage.”
“After getting married, he told me that his monthly wage is two hundred yuan, plus a fifty-yuan flight allowance, totaling two hundred and fifty yuan.”
“Furthermore, their food and lodging are fully covered every month, and they even receive grain coupons and canned meat…”
“Your son-in-law left me cash and said all his subsequent allowances will be remitted to me. Keeping the flight allowance is enough for his daily expenses.”
Huang Guixiang: “!!!”
This much? My goodness! What a great two hundred and fifty!!! No wonder her son-in-law spent money with such absolute generosity!
“Still, it ought to be saved. There will be plenty of places where you two will need money in the future!”
Lin Wan: “Mom, the housing costs nothing, his living costs nothing, and even if we have children in the future, their education is fully covered by the military without costing a cent.”
“Besides, even if I take out fifty yuan every month to spend on food, saving the rest is more than enough!”
Huo Xiao hadn’t explicitly mentioned giving her the cash. Lin Wan put it this way purely to set the stage so she would have a perfect excuse when she brought meat home every few days in the future. Whenever moments like this arose, Lin Wan truly appreciated the benefits of being married to Huo Xiao.
Huang Guixiang was instantly swayed. She grabbed Lin Wan’s hand and headed inside the state-owned restaurant. What was there to hesitate about? She could skip the meat, but given these conditions, her daughter absolutely had to eat meat!
“We will eat exactly what we order and won’t bring anything back.”
“Although the household is split, we are still living under the same roof.”
“If we live too luxuriously, they will inevitably harbor thoughts they shouldn’t!”
“Sigh, it would be so wonderful if we could live completely separately!”
Lin Wan felt the exact same way. “Mom, let’s focus on working well first, and then ask around about housing. We’ll figure out a way eventually!”
“Once you start working, you can just eat at the cafeteria. I’ll subsidize you with cash and coupons!”
Huang Guixiang said, “We’ll see when the time comes. Don’t give me anything; I can earn it myself!”
The two ordered a portion of Kung Pao chicken and a bowl of vegetable meatball soup, along with two portions of rice. However, when the dishes were served, an extra portion of Mao Xue Wang appeared on the table.
Lin Wan: “Comrade, we didn’t order Mao Xue Wang!”
The waitress smiled and said, “This is a gift to you from Comrade Geng Xiangyang from the kitchen.” Her gaze carried a trace of teasing. Several waitresses were peering over here, their eyes filled with intense curiosity.
Lin Wan: “…” Wasn’t Geng Xiangyang working at the state-owned restaurant on Guihua Street? She had intentionally avoided that place!
Sigh! Look at you keeping fish! Now you’ve run into trouble, haven’t you!
Lin Wan could only stand up with a smile and say, “I’m sorry, my husband is in the military and they have strict discipline. As a dependent, I cannot break the rules by accepting free food either. Comrade, how much cash and how many meat coupons does this portion of Mao Xue Wang cost? I’ll pay for it.”
The waitress: “??” Ah? The girl is married! And it’s a military marriage at that! Then Little Geng still… Looking at the girl’s demeanor, she isn’t the type to string someone along either. Otherwise, she would have just accepted it with a smile. Why decline? She even spelled out her married status clearly. It is explicitly meant to avoid misunderstandings and cut ties completely. This Little Geng is entirely unrequited!
“Thirty-five cents plus one liang of meat coupons!” the waitress stated with a self-mocking smile. Lin Wan paid the money immediately. The group of waitresses huddled together, whispering furiously.
“Mom, hurry and eat!” Lin Wan placed food into Huang Guixiang’s bowl.
Huang Guixiang grumbled, “What kind of person is he? Sending a dish without even asking first, forcing us to spend extra money!”
Lin Wan: “If we can’t finish it, we’ll just pack it back. With Uncle Zhang and Hongqiang around, it won’t go to waste at all!”
Huang Guixiang raised her hand to tap Lin Wan’s forehead. “Look at you! This old mother’s heart is aching over the money for your sake!”
“Do those two named Zhang at home deserve to eat meat every single day?”
“The principle of ‘giving a pint of rice breeds gratitude, giving a bushel breeds an enemy’—you must lock that firmly in your mind!”
Lin Wan nodded like a chicken pecking at grain. No matter what Comrade Huang Guixiang said, she simply agreed blindly.
They finished eating and prepared to leave. Just as they stepped out of the state-owned restaurant, Lin Wan was called out to by Geng Xiangyang, who had chased out after them.
