To please others? It's better to please yourself.

Zhuangzhuang is on summer vacation, and the other two children are clamoring to play with their older brother instead of going to daycare.

Xu Jing'an took the opportunity to leave the children with Shen He. For the entire summer vacation, Shen He rode his bicycle to and from get off work with the three children.

There are now more than a dozen children in their department, and with their own three, they're even more unruly.

Many families now have both spouses working. Sometimes they're so busy that many employees bring their children to work. Their colleagues at work are usually understanding.

Zhuangzhuang, Maomao, and Doudou followed their father to his workplace and saw their new friends. Within three minutes, they joined in, swarming around the playground and grass behind the office building.

After a summer vacation, most of the grassland was bare. The exposed yellow soil had gone from damp to dry. The remaining grass lay flat on the ground, and it took more than a week after the children returned to school for it to straighten up again.

……

June 75

Military Family Compound

The houses on the east side are single-story dwellings, with a total of 10 courtyards. Each family has two main rooms, a kitchen, a toilet, and a storage room. The courtyards are not large, but they have running water, electricity, and sewage systems. Each family also has a small vegetable garden behind their house, so only some families buy vegetables from the service station; many choose to grow their own.

Gu Panpan was new to the area and didn't know which family she could get along with. If she ran into someone who liked to take advantage of others, it would be awkward to make a scene, but if she didn't, she would seem easy to bully.

The house that Shen Yue applied for was the one in the very last courtyard.

In the morning, Gu Panpan saw Shen Yue off to the military camp, feeling a sense of relief after hardship.

Five years! It took her nearly five years to get Shen Yue to agree to apply for her to accompany him to the army. Only then could she leave the countryside.

What woman doesn't want to be beautiful and live a refined life? In her past life, she was good to herself. The money Shen Yue sent her, along with the money and food she earned from working, were all spent on herself.

She used face cream and clam oil on her hands, and refused to do many tiring chores. Her parents doted on her, and even though her sisters-in-law had objections, they still kept the meat, fine grains, and cloth ration coupons for themselves.

She was afraid of getting her face tanned, afraid of making her hands rough, but the result was that Shen Yue frowned the moment he saw her after returning from the army. He didn't think the delicate-skinned girl in front of him was anything special!

She felt that her husband earned so much money a month, yet he only gave her five yuan. She always felt it was too little and was resentful.

Gu Panpan still felt she didn't have enough money, but she wouldn't make a fuss about it anymore. As long as she could win Shen Yue's heart, he would personally hand over the things and money to her. If a man has you in his heart, you don't need to say it. No matter how big or small the matter, as long as he can think of it, he will arrange it perfectly.

When Shen Yue went to the train station to see Gu Panpan, he saw her tanned face and rough skin, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he took the initiative to help her carry her luggage, get her food, boil water, do her laundry, and hand her his newly received salary.

That night, the two lay in bed. Shen Yue touched Gu Panpan's calloused hands, kissed her forehead, and stroked her back again and again.

Shen Yue's hands were rough and strong, holding her waist and taking her again and again. Afterwards, he would hold her as they fell asleep.

This is someone who can only be moved by sincerity and genuine affection. She is very glad that she has chosen the right path this time.

…………

"Sister-in-law, this is a package that Battalion Commander Shen asked us to deliver." The eighteen or nineteen-year-old comrade put the package down and was about to leave.

Gu Panpan quickly called out to them, pulling out a handful of hard candies from her pocket: "Thank you, young comrade, don't rush off. It's nothing special, just a few candies to sweeten your mouth."

"Sister-in-law, no need," the young man waved his hand repeatedly.

"Here you go! Why be so polite at your Battalion Commander Shen's house?" Gu Panpan deftly handed the candy to the other person.

The young man's tanned face turned red. "Sister-in-law, I'll be going now if there's nothing else."

"Alright, your battalion commander will treat us to a meal later."

The young man ran off in a flash.

Gu Panpan recognized the items as having been mailed from her hometown. At the time, many things were inconvenient to carry, so she simply had them mailed.

She turned around and hurriedly tidied the house and put things away. Otherwise, there would be so much to do all day. She also needed to find time to ask Shen Yue to sort out the relationships here. That way, she would know how to get along with the other military wives, otherwise, things might go wrong.

The package was opened, and the most important item inside—an old iron pot—was placed in the kitchen. A new pot that Shen Yue had prepared was also on the stove.

It took her an hour to tidy up the house. She and Shen Yue are both from the north, so they'll have steamed buns for lunch; they have enough time!

I got up, found the sourdough starter and the bowl I'd brought, and started kneading the dough. After kneading, I put the lid on the dough and moved it to a sunny spot.

He took the money, slung his basket over his shoulder, and turned to walk towards the army's service station.

When Gu Panpan arrived, the place was packed with people. She looked up at the clock at the service station and saw that it was already 9:30.

"Auntie, why are there so many people here?" Gu Panpan asked the auntie in front of her in line. She was wearing a gray top, black pants, and her hair was neatly combed.

Aunt Sun: "Girl, you look unfamiliar. Did you just arrive?"

"Yes, it just arrived yesterday."

"There are always plenty of people, but today there are especially many. They say there's some extra cloth available today that doesn't require tickets, or it's a special benefit our unit applied for for military families. That's why we've been waiting for so long and it still hasn't arrived!" Aunt Sun said softly, though everyone already knew the truth.

"Auntie, I'm going to buy groceries first, they're ready to be cooked!" Gu Panpan said as she went to buy groceries while everyone was queuing to buy fabric.

I bought two pounds of chives, one pound of fennel sprouts, three pounds of cucumbers, three pounds of tomatoes, two pounds of eggs, and one pound of vermicelli. The basket was full.

Just as I was about to leave, I suddenly heard the salesperson shout, "The cloth is here! Line up! We also have pork today, but you need a ration coupon!"

Those far away couldn't hear what was being shouted, while those nearby hesitated between buying cloth and meat. Some wanted meat but didn't have their ration coupons, so they had to run home as fast as they could.

The meat stall was right next to the vegetable stall. Gu Panpan was the first to stand in front of the stall.

"Give me two catties of pork belly and three catties of fatty meat." Gu Panpan was glad that she had brought all the tickets with her when she went out.

Opportunities to buy meat are rare; it's not enough to just have a ration coupon. Otherwise, how could Shen Yue have accumulated so many meat coupons? Take advantage of the low number of people and the abundance of meat to buy quickly.

The butcher was clearly experienced; after taking the money, he cut the meat in two swift strokes, the two pieces weighing exactly the right weight. Gu Panpan took the meat, quickly stuffed it into her basket, and hurried away. By then, she was surrounded by a crowd.

I kept walking home, I couldn't walk too slowly! What if I ran into someone who hadn't bought any meat and insisted on sharing some with me?

He closed the door as soon as he entered the house.

First, go to the kitchen, turn on the fire, cook the vermicelli until done, then take it out. Next, simmer mung bean soup, then clean and wash the chives and fennel sprouts, and drain them. Then, take out the fatty meat to render the oil, and just in time, put the new pot on the stove (pour some water into the pot, then cut the fatty meat into small pieces and put it in to simmer slowly).

Remove the cracklings from the oil and pour them into a large bowl. Pour the oil into an oil container. While the oil is still simmering, fry two eggs. Chop the chives and glass noodles and add them to the pan, mixing well. Chop the fennel sprouts and cracklings and mix them in as well. Season with salt and start kneading the dough. (Add a little alkaline powder while kneading, otherwise it will easily turn sour.)