On his first night as a substitute bride accompanying the army, the abstinent tycoon dropped his pre

Chapter 30 Renovating the Courtyard

"Huh? Why can't I accept it?"

Wen Ci didn't understand, but then she thought of a solution and said with a smile, "Then another day, when you come to my house, I'll make it for you, that should be okay, right?"

Zhang Cheng: "Okay, that seems like a good idea."

They explicitly stipulated that they could not accept anything from family members.

However, it is permissible for family members to invite them to dinner.
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Wen Ci returned home and glanced at the clock hanging in the living room. It was just past nine o'clock. She turned on the TV but found there weren't many channels.

She couldn't help but sigh.

Even in the apocalypse, there are signals to pass the time.

The 1980s were a bit too boring. Stepping into Huo Jingyuan's study, there was a blank notebook and a pencil on the table.

I took a pen and paper and sat on the steps at the entrance to the inner room.

She sketched the entire courtyard on paper. The courtyard was currently empty, and Wen Ci wanted to take this opportunity to renovate it.

After all, I'll be living here for a few years.

She drew a pavilion where one could drink tea, chat, and find shelter from the wind and rain. The path to the pavilion was paved with pebbles, and some vegetables were drawn on the left.

In her previous life, Wen Ci was a design student and a skilled sketch artist. She spent half an hour drawing the effect she wanted.

She plans to make the pavilion herself using wooden planks.

I just need someone to help me.

Wen Ci pursed her lips, intending to show the completed design to Huo Jingyuan and ask for his feedback. This room was their shared home.

After idly playing around until 10:30, there was a knock on the door, and Xue Li's voice rang out: "Sister-in-law, I've come to bring you some groceries?"

Wen Ci, who was sitting on the sofa, immediately sprang to her feet upon hearing the sound. She walked to the door of the inner room, then remembered that she needed to go inside to get the money. She called out to the door, "Just a moment, wait for me."

After taking the money, Wen Ci hurried to the door to help Xue Li leave. Seeing that he was carrying vegetables and meat in his hands, she said apologetically, "Thank you for your hard work, Xue Li."

"it's okay no problem."

Wen Ci asked, "How much? I'll give you the money."

"No need, sister-in-law."

Wen Ci frowned, her expression turning serious as she looked at Xue Li. She said earnestly, "No, you must pay for today's food."

She saw pig's trotters and pork hocks.

These two are truly high-quality items. Xue Li's monthly salary isn't high, and buying these dishes from the kitchen must have cost a lot of money: "Listen to me, how much?"

"Three dollars."

Wen Ci gave him three yuan.

In the 1980s, instant noodles were considered a luxury item. A pack of instant noodles cost 50 cents, which was the food cost for an average family for a whole day.

Wen Ci is not the kind of person who spends money like water.

Since we're new here, we can't very well let the older women treat us.

Xue Li asked, "Sister-in-law, do you need my help carrying things?"

Wen Ci quickly refused: "No need, you don't need to do your thing, I can manage on my own."

As she spoke, she picked up two bags of vegetables from the ground.

"Can it really work?" Xue Li asked worriedly.

"Who are you looking down on?"

Wen Ci carried the things in both hands and walked for seven or eight minutes to the building where she had met Sister Jing and the others before, and put the things on the stool.

She gasped.

She only knew that Sister Jing lived in this building, but forgot to ask for the specific room number and floor. After thinking for a moment, she called out, "Sister Jing, I'm here."

As soon as she finished speaking, the door to the first room on the second floor opened, and Zhu Jing stood in the corridor and waved to Wen Ci. When she saw the vegetables and meat on the stool, her eyes widened.

She thought Wen Ci would at most buy a piece of meat.

The sheer number of elaborate dishes surprised Zhu Jing, who broke out in a cold sweat. Forcing a smile, she said, "Xiao Ci, wait a moment." She went back inside and pulled out the few coins left in the drawer. Her husband earned about thirty yuan a month, half of which went to support his parents.

Zhu Jing couldn't help but sigh.

Hearing Wen Ci's voice, Xiang Qin and the others came out of the house and were stunned when they saw the pig's trotters and elbows on the stool after going downstairs.

"Little Ci, what you're doing..."

Wen Ci smiled brightly: "When I treat my sisters to a meal, I'll definitely make sure it's something good!"

Zhu Jing's lips twitched: "This is too... quite expensive, isn't it? Otherwise, let's split the bill among the few of us. We can't let you pay so much by yourself."

Wen Ci refused. She took a step back and said seriously, "No, I promised to treat you. If you stay here, I'll pack my things and leave right now."

Seeing that she couldn't persuade Wen Ci otherwise, Zhu Jing said helplessly, "Then let's set up a table downstairs and eat."

Wen Ci said sweetly, "Thank you for your hard work, Sister Jing~"

She only provided the funding; the one who truly worked hard was Sister Jing.

The others weren't idle either; they helped Zhu Jing with the tasks, and the group squeezed together in the building's communal kitchen, chatting and laughing.

Zhu Jing joked, "Your man is quite something, getting the kitchen to sell you so many things. How much did you spend on all of this?"

"Three dollars."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jing stopped cutting the meat, looked up at Wen Ci, and raised an eyebrow: "Wow, this time they were actually so fair and didn't charge us."

The kitchen staff in the military compound also served as military dependents' kitchens. They were skilled cooks with excellent cooking skills, making it one of the few jobs with good culinary taste among the military dependents.

They usually charge other people a fee when selling vegetables to earn the difference.

In-demand items like pig's trotters and braised pork hocks will have to be sold at a higher price.

Wen Ci didn't understand what he meant: "Do we have to pay extra to buy groceries from the kitchen?"

"Add it." Xiang Qin complained, "Last time my husband's parents came to visit relatives in the Northwest, they didn't have any extra food at home, so I spent an extra dollar to go find them."

"Can Mom and Dad still come to the Northwest to visit relatives?"

Wen Ci had never heard of such a rule before.

"The Northwest Military Region is different from other military regions, especially for ordinary soldiers. They only have marriage leave and annual leave throughout the year, and even the annual leave has to be taken in batches."

Marriage leave is only five days, and annual leave is eight days. For soldiers who live far away, if they take the old-fashioned green train, they will spend all their holidays on the road.

Therefore, soldiers in the Northwest Military Region can allow their immediate family members to visit them, and the military region will cover half of the sleeper berth cost for the family members, but an application is required.

After hearing Zhu Jing's explanation, Wen Ci's eyes curved into a smile.

This regulation from the Northwest Military Region is really good.

Wen Ci said, "I asked Xue Li to buy it."

"No wonder, Captain Xue often travels to Shanghai and has a very good relationship with the kitchen staff."

Wen Ci suddenly needed to use the restroom. "Sister Jing, where's the restroom?"

Zhu Jing pointed Wen Ci in a direction.

No sooner had Wen Ci left than Hou Li remarked, "Why haven't I heard my husband mention that Captain Xue got married?"

Xiang Qin smiled and said, "Many soldiers don't reveal whether they're married or not."

"That's right."

By noon, Zhu Jing had finished cooking all the dishes, and the others helped carry them to the table, filling the air with the aroma of braised pork knuckle.

The usually taciturn Miao Ling suddenly said, "I'm going back to my room."

Wen Ci and the others sat and waited for her. Two minutes later, Miao Ling came downstairs carrying two bottles of soda in each hand, with another bottle of soda in her mouth.

Upon seeing this, Wen Ci quickly went over to help carry it to the table.

Miao Ling: "The leftover soda from last Chinese New Year is used to accompany the main dishes."

(End of this chapter)