Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Ji Yunshu rubbed her eyes and counted again. No mistake—it was exactly two thousand yuan! In her whole life, she'd never seen that much money all at once!

"Th-this... is this for me?" Ji Yunshu's voice changed.

Meng Yunzhen smiled and said, "Mom and Dad gave it. They said since you're going to the island and you're newlyweds, you'll need to buy a lot of things. They want you to buy whatever you like—having cash on hand keeps you from worrying."

Ji Yunshu clutched the passbook, hardly daring to believe her eyes. She knew the Meng family had money, but she never expected them to hand over two thousand yuan at once! Back then, a regular worker made only thirty or forty yuan a month—two thousand yuan could feed a family for years.

"This is too much..." Ji Yunshu instinctively tried to refuse. "I can't accept this."

"Take it." Meng Yunzhen patted her hand. "Mom and Dad said they owe you this. They're your biological parents—if they gave you any less than Uncle Ji and Aunt He, they'd feel guilty. Besides, there's nothing else our family has to give you..."

Meng Yunzhen let out a soft sigh as she spoke.

In the end, family background was the one thing the Meng family couldn't offer, and it would even drag her down. Ji Yunshu had accepted their family so openly, without looking down on their status or complaining about her own fall from the "clouds," so Meng Yunzhen had resolved to take good care of this younger sister.

Ji Yunshu's eyes welled up, and she threw her arms around Meng Yunzhen. The Meng family had treated her so well—even though they had only just been reunited, they were willing to give her so much money at once. They truly saw her as family.

Ji Yunshu looked at this remarkable eldest sister—who'd ranked first in her class every year but kept hitting dead ends at school because of her family background—and silently vowed to protect every member of the Meng family.

There was no way she could just stand by and watch the Meng family get crushed in the coming "Great Movement."

Back at home, Meng Guangze and Wang Wanru called Ji Yunshu over again. Wang Wanru carefully fished a watch coupon out of her inner pocket and pressed it into Ji Yunshu's hand.

"Xiaoshu, take this too. When you get married, Mom and Dad don't have much else to give you. After thinking it over, we realized we still had this watch coupon—go to the department store and pick whichever one you like. You'll definitely need to know the time on the island, and it's remote out there, so the watch selection won't be as good as in the capital," Wang Wanru said. "As for the big stuff... we can't let the Pei family handle everything. The wedding's rushed, and this is all Mom can give you."

Ji Yunshu looked at the watch coupon, then at Wang Wanru and Meng Guangze. Gray was already creeping into their temples, and their eyes were bloodshot, like they hadn't slept well in days. But the way Wang Wanru looked at her was full of tenderness and sincerity, along with a careful, almost timid eagerness to please.

Ji Yunshu got it—they were afraid Pei Yufeng would look down on her because of her family background, so they were desperately shoving things into her hands to give her money and confidence.

Ji Yunshu finally broke down in tears.

She took the watch coupon and nodded hard. "Thank you, Dad, Mom. You've already given me so much."

Meng Li watched Wang Wanru hand over the watch coupon through the crack in the door.

Her fingers clenched the doorframe, her nails digging into the wood and leaving shallow marks. She slipped back to her room, shut the door tight, and sat on the edge of the bed, her chest burning with resentment.

That was the only watch coupon the Meng family had!

She'd been with the Meng family for two years. Last year, she'd asked Wang Wanru about getting a new watch, and Wang Wanru said Meng Yunzhen had gone all these years—even through college—without buying one, and that the coupon was being saved for Meng Yunzhen's future wedding. She'd been annoyed at the time, but she hadn't said anything—after all, Meng Yunzhen was the real daughter, and she wasn't.

But now? Meng Yunzhen wasn't even married yet, and the watch coupon had already gone to Ji Yunshu!

Meng Li bit her lip, got up, and walked over to the mirror. She raised her wrist and looked at the watch she'd worn for two years, the face already scratched up.

The more she looked at it, the more it bugged her. The more she stared, the angrier she got.

But what could she do? She couldn't exactly storm out and pick a fight with Meng Guangze and Wang Wanru. She hadn't fully moved her household registration back yet—she still relied on the Meng family. Besides, Ji Yunshu was about to leave for the island.

At that thought, a smirk crept back onto Meng Li's face.

Qiongzhou Island—that godforsaken place, hot as hell all year round, where typhoons could rip the roof right off. Could Ji Yunshu's spoiled, delicate self survive that? And Pei Yufeng was always out at sea, barely making it home a few times a year. Ji Yunshu would be all alone on that island, with no one to call for help and nowhere to run!

She wanted to follow him as a military wife, huh? Fine—let her go. Good riddance.

Meng Li fixed her hair in front of the mirror, put her sweet, gentle smile back on, and kept reassuring herself.

Over the next few days, word of Pei Yufeng and Ji Yunshu's wedding spread all over the compound.

It started in the compound's message room. When Pei Yufeng filed his marriage report, the communications soldier congratulated him first, and then word slowly spread to other departments until the whole compound knew.

While Ji Haiguo was busy prepping Ji Yunshu's political review, several groups of people had already come by to ask around. Some offered genuine congratulations, some came to rubberneck, and others said "congrats, congrats" while their eyes were full of judgment.

"Old Ji's girl, marrying that Pei kid—she's lucky, huh? Wasn't she about to leave? Why's she suddenly getting married?"

"Probably because her family background's bad and she doesn't want to leave the compound. But she's something else—actually willing to follow him to Qiongzhou Island!"

"Qiongzhou Island? That's a miserable place. That pampered girl from the Ji family—can she handle it?"

"Handle it or not, she has to. With her background, marrying Pei Yufeng is already a stroke of luck. He's a martyr's son, red through and through—he's not the one who should be picky."

When those words reached He Qiuxia's ears, her hands shook with anger, but she kept her mouth shut. She had already made up her mind—if Ji Yunshu was leaving, she would make sure she left with dignity and style.

So she was determined to make Ji Yunshu's pre-marital political review report flawless, beyond reproach!

On the day the review materials were sent to the Political Department, He Qiuxia urged Ji Haiguo to deliver them personally.

Ji Yunshu's report was written by Ji Haiguo's own hand. He truthfully and accurately recorded the nineteen years Ji Yunshu had spent living in the Ji family, as well as the important milestones in her growth.

Ji Yunshu had grown up in the Ji family. Her thinking and her way of conducting herself were highly consistent with the Ji family's values, and she truly bore none of the extravagant tendencies of the bourgeoisie. After submitting the materials, Ji Haiguo said sincerely to the Political Department leadership, "Yun Shu is a child I raised, growing up in our home since she was little. She has good character and progressive thinking. I'm willing to vouch for her marriage to Yu Feng. I've never asked anyone for anything in my life—all I want now is for the children to marry smoothly and happily."

The Political Department leader glanced at him and didn't make things difficult. Ji Haiguo had spent most of his life in the military without ever asking for anything for himself—this was his first time pleading, and it was purely a father's love.

"Old Ji, we all know your character," the leader said, accepting the materials. "We'll contact the Qiongzhou Island side about this."

Ji Haiguo nodded, sighed, and left.

A week later, the reply from Qiongzhou Island finally arrived.

Pei Yufeng got the telegram from the communications office and, after reading only the first line, hurried toward the Ji family home. He arrived just as the family was sitting down to lunch.

"A telegram came from the island." Pei Yufeng handed it to Ji Yunshu. "The leadership approved it."

The telegram also stated that the leadership had granted Pei Yufeng an additional ten days of leave for the wedding, and that he could bring his new wife to the island. Once he returned, he would be promoted to Deputy Regiment Level, and Ji Yunshu's situation met the requirements for accompanying military personnel, so she could complete the paperwork.

This meant Ji Yunshu's political review had passed, and her background would not affect Pei Yufeng's promotion.

The whole family gathered around to read the telegram, chatting animatedly. Meng Guangze and Wang Wanru were there too—Wang Wanru's eyes reddened again, but this time from joy. Meng Guangze sat nearby, not saying much, but a smile lingered at the corners of his mouth.

The family discussed having Pei Yufeng and Ji Yunshu take their marriage report and household registration books to the civil affairs office to register first thing the next morning. The wedding was set for the weekend when everyone was off duty. The ceremony would be kept simple—a witness to officiate, a vow before the Chairman's portrait, and handing out wedding candies to familiar neighbors.

Meng Li also sat at the table, a smile on her face, saying "Congratulations, sister," but her chopsticks poked at her bowl endlessly without a single grain of rice making it to her mouth.

Deputy Regiment Level...

Pei Yufeng was only twenty-four, and he was about to be promoted to Deputy Regiment Level.

Meng Li's lips pressed downward, then quickly curved back up.

It didn't matter. No matter how capable Pei Yufeng was, he was still a short-lived man. In the original book, when he died, only an old woman was left in his family, and she passed soon after. Ji Yunshu marrying him—she wouldn't enjoy her glory for long.

Meng Li picked up her bowl and took a sip of porridge, trying to suppress the resentment bubbling inside her.

That afternoon, Pei Yufeng took Ji Yunshu to buy a watch.

The two left the compound, rode three stops on the bus, and arrived at Wangfujing. The department store's display windows were lined with all kinds of goods. Ji Yunshu and Pei Yufeng walked in side by side, Ji Yunshu's hand still trembling slightly as she clutched her crossbody bag.

This wasn't her first time being alone with Pei Yufeng, but for some reason she felt like everything had changed.

Pei Yufeng was wearing a white dacron shirt today, sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing a clean line of wrist. Ji Yunshu walked half a step behind him, her gaze kept drifting over there without her meaning to.

She had seen Pei Yufeng's wrists before—when he played basketball on the compound's small court, when he rode his bicycle, when he carried things for her... But back then, her heart was at ease; she'd look and it didn't bother her at all. Now, just catching a glimpse of that small patch of skin made her chest feel as if something had gently bumped into it, a strange ache, sour and full, that she couldn't quite put into words.

"This way." Pei Yufeng glanced at the mall's sign, stepping aside to guide Ji Yunshu.

As they turned the corner, they ended up closer together, and Ji Yunshu suddenly caught the faint scent of soap on Pei Yufeng. That smell was all too familiar—every household in the compound used the same kind of soap—yet somehow, that same smell on him made the tips of her ears go warm.

Ji Yunshu felt like she was being completely ridiculous.

It was just that his role had changed from brother to fiancé, right? There wasn't much of a difference, so why was she suddenly so nervous and fidgety?

Ji Yunshu stole another glance at Pei Yufeng and noticed he remained composed, he wasn't letting the upcoming wedding get to his head the way it was hers. She quickly reined in her own thoughts.

Soon, the two reached the watch counter.

The glass display case at the watch counter held several rows of watches—some from Shanghai, some from Tianjin, and some imported. Ji Yunshu leaned over the counter for a long while, her gaze pausing on a white-dialed Shanghai-brand watch before shifting to a smaller-dialed Dongfeng-brand watch beside it.

The saleswoman, a friendly middle-aged woman in her forties, greeted them with a smile: "Hi there, looking at watches? Buying one for your sweetheart?"

Ji Yunshu's face flushed bright red in an instant. She was still figuring out how to respond when Pei Yufeng, perfectly at ease, simply nodded and said in a calm voice: "Yes, for the wedding."

His tone was no different from usual, as if he were commenting on the nice weather. But those words hit Ji Yunshu's ears like a burst of fireworks set off right beside her—a sudden bang that made her accept the shift in their relationship in that very moment.

"Yes, we're buying two, for the wedding." Ji Yunshu said it just as openly.

Author's note:

Starting the pre-marital and post-marital flirtation—Xiao Pei looks like he's got no expression, but he's been gone (head over heels) for a while now.