Surprise, Surprise
Su Su didn’t pay too much attention to it. After all, this second uncle hadn’t appeared much in the book anyway. Even if it really was him, it didn’t matter much.
However, she had originally thought the “car” would be a four-wheeled automobile. But after they came out, she realised it was a reverse tricycle.
It was what the masses commonly called a flatbed tricycle. The cart was flat, with two protruding wooden compartments where people could sit. After she got on, she and Principal Guan each sat on one side. Principal Guan then said to the tricycle master, “Master, to the X East University family residential area.”
“Got it. You two sit tight.” The master’s voice was loud and clear. After saying that, he started pedalling.
That’s right. The back wasn’t electric-powered or fuel-powered. It was foot-powered.
Su Su quickly grabbed onto the compartment she was sitting in, feeling a little nervous.
“Never sat in one before?”
“Mm, no, I haven’t.” At least it had bicycle wheels, so it wasn’t too bumpy. It just swayed a little.
“Nowadays in X City, if you want to go out, besides the bus, there are these reverse tricycles. But our school’s family residential area is close to the school. It takes less than five minutes to walk there, so there’s no real need for transport.”
Principal Guan was as enthusiastic as before. He personally sent her all the way to the family residential courtyard. That wasn’t all. He even greeted the gatekeeper in the courtyard, “Old Wang, this is the newly arrived Teacher Su. She’s a master’s graduate from a famous university. If anything comes up in the future, help take care of her a little. By the way, where’s the key to her dormitory?”
“It’s here.”
Old Wang handed over a set of keys, then said, “Teacher Su is really too young.”
Principal Guan was still very enthusiastic. As he walked, he said, “This is our school’s family residential area. They’re all brick houses that were built not long ago. Although it’s called a dormitory, if you have family members, they can all come and live here. It’s quite spacious. This is the one. Go in and see if you like it.”
It seemed the school truly valued her quite a lot. Su Su nodded repeatedly, then walked inside.
Though it was called a family residential area, it was actually only two rows of small brick houses. There was also a men’s and women’s toilet nearby. The place was well-ventilated from front to back and looked quite clean. It was dark now, but since there was electricity in the city, it didn’t look dim.
After opening the door and going in, she found that it was truly a very neat little two-room home: one living room, one bedroom, and also a washroom.
“This one has drainage. If you like, you can install a toilet in the washroom. But right now, many people are afraid the house will smell, so we didn’t install one. Everything has been prepared for you, including the bedding, which was issued from above. Things like thermos flasks can be collected tomorrow. If you need to drink water today, you can just use the tap water directly.” Principal Guan explained everything to her, then said, “If you work at our school for three years, this house will become yours. My home is in the back courtyard. If anything comes up, just come to me directly.”
“Alright, I understand.” Su Su thanked him profusely. She hadn’t expected to receive such a warm reception.
After Principal Guan finished speaking, he left. He also told her to rest tomorrow and go to the school to report the day after tomorrow.
Su Su agreed and entered the room. She then discovered that this new dormitory really did feel rather homely. Mainly, the room was quite warm. It was probably centrally heated. In the living room, there was a table and chairs, and on the table was a desk lamp that looked neither very new nor very old.
When she opened the bedroom door and looked inside, there was a large iron bed from the seventies or eighties. A small table stood to one side, and beside it was a four-door metal wardrobe painted dark green.
She placed her backpack on the bed, took out her thermos cup and other things, then opened the large metal wardrobe. She found that in one compartment, there was a set of bedding and a pillow.
She had just taken them out and made the bed when someone knocked on the door. The person who came was a woman in her thirties or forties with short hair cut to her ears. When she saw Su Su, she smiled and said, “Comrade Su, right? I’m Guan Yu’s wife, Song Aiying. I’m in charge of the school’s logistics.”
“Hello, please come in quickly. It’s cold outside.” Su Su quickly moved aside to let her in. In a school, you could offend anyone, but you absolutely could not offend the logistics staff.
Because food, supplies, and accommodation were all in their hands.
After Song Aiying came in, she put down the things in her hands and said, “I came to bring you a water bottle and a thermos flask, as well as the towels and washbasin the school gives to the teachers. We were worried Old Guan was careless. If you waited until tomorrow to collect these things, what would you use tonight? So I brought them over for you.”
“Thank you so much. These are exactly what I was missing.” Su Su smiled as she picked up the things and placed them on the table. Then she said, “Director Song, right? You came at just the right time. I don’t really know how to light this coal stove.” She truly had never seen one before. Although coal and kindling seemed to have been placed there, she didn’t understand it at all.
Song Aiying immediately said, “This is simple.” After saying that, she demonstrated it once. Su Su watched and felt it didn’t look too difficult, so she nodded. “Then I should be able to light it tomorrow.”
“Actually, our unit hasn’t started school yet, so we have to cook for ourselves for now. Once school starts in a while, the canteen will open, and you can just go to the canteen for breakfast and lunch. You’re a state-employed teacher, so your food and accommodation fees are all waived. For private teachers like me, we have to pay a little each month, but it isn’t much.” Song Aiying seemed like a very honest person, and she spoke in a straightforward and crisp manner.
Su Su said, “I understand. Thank you, Director Song.”
“Then boil some hot water, wash up, and sleep. Tomorrow, rest for a day and buy some daily necessities. I’ll go back first and won’t disturb your rest. Oh, right, you haven’t eaten dinner yet, have you? Look at me, I almost forgot. Why don’t you come to my house and have a bite?”
“No need. I ate eggs and cake on the train, so I’m not hungry. Besides, if I do get hungry, I still have boiled eggs. It’s fine.”
“Alright then.” After Song Aiying finished speaking, she left.
Su Su breathed a sigh of relief. Once the coal stove had boiled the water, she washed up with hot water. Then she tidied this little new home a bit before going to bed to rest. Tomorrow, she was going to give Lin Chuan a surprise.
But before the surprise, she needed to buy a lot of things. Fortunately, she had often moved places during university before, so she was used to this.
The next day, she asked Old Wang at the gate about the market and went there. She bought many household items and had them transported back by flatbed cart.
After putting the things at home without even sorting them, she directly asked the flatbed cart master where the X Military Region was and whether he could take her there.
The flatbed cart master naturally knew the place, but it was a little far, so he asked for one yuan.
Su Su agreed, of course. She changed into a spring woollen coat and got on the cart. On the way, she also bought some sweets and put them in her bag just in case. After all, when she got there, she might meet Lin Chuan’s comrades. Those sweets would definitely come in handy.
Unexpectedly, after being jolted around for ages, she finally reached the entrance of the army compound. As soon as she got off the cart, she saw a group of soldiers in camouflage running towards this side.
Cough…
They must have been out carrying out some mission. Each one looked as if he had just crawled out of the mud.
Su Su didn’t pay it much mind and was just about to ask the sentry when she suddenly saw one soldier who had originally been running at the front of the group stop abruptly, facing her.
But he seemed uncertain, so he was hesitating.
Only then did Su Su focus her gaze on him, and unexpectedly recognised him. Her heart instantly became extremely excited. As she ran, she waved and called, “Lin Chuan!”
At this moment, the “grey-faced and dirt-covered” Lin Chuan finally confirmed that the familiar-looking girl was his own wife.
Coincidentally, someone behind him said, “Eh, is that pretty girl calling our battalion commander’s name? Did I hear wrong? She can even recognise him like this?”
Lin Chuan jabbed him away with an elbow, then quickly ran a few steps forward to meet her.
Su Su was so happy that she immediately hugged Lin Chuan. But very quickly, a large hand pressed against her head and pushed her away.
She was short, and her arms were short too. She wanted to reach out and hug Lin Chuan, but no matter how she tried, she couldn’t grab him.
To outsiders, Lin Chuan at that moment looked as if he were playing with a kitten. It was rather amusing.
“What are you doing?” Su Su took a step back unhappily. She had wanted to give him a surprise, but he had given her an accident instead.
“I’m dirty.”
Only after Lin Chuan said that did he straighten her properly and ask, “You… why are you here?”
“I came to see you. Are you surprised? Is it unexpected?” Su Su raised her little face and smiled.
For some reason, Lin Chuan’s heartbeat became extremely fast when he saw the way she looked at him joyfully. He had never imagined there would be a time when he would be this nervous. At that moment, he didn’t even know where to put his hands. He could only say, “Come in with me first. I’ll wash up, then talk to you.”
“Mm.” Looking like this, he really did need to wash. She had almost failed to recognise him.
Lin Chuan led Su Su inside, but the soldiers at the side had no intention of letting him off.
Someone said, “Battalion Commander, is this girl your younger sister?”
“No, what younger sister? She must be your niece or something.”
“What niece? This is our sister-in-law. I’ve seen her photo.”
“What?”
“Is she sister-in-law?”
“Is she, is she? Tell us if she’s sister-in-law!”
As Lin Chuan led Su Su further inside, he said, “Chang Yuejin, take them and run one more lap around the army base. You’re not allowed to come back until mealtime.”
“Ah…” A wave of wails rang out.
Su Su felt a little embarrassed and asked, “Is that okay?”
“It’s nothing. Go to my dormitory and wait for me first.” Lin Chuan brought her to his dormitory. However, because he had taken someone across more than half of the army base, before long, almost everyone knew that his wife had come to visit him.
Lin Chuan was afraid his wife would dislike how filthy he was, so he quickly ran to the army bathhouse and took a battle-speed shower. Then, without even drying his hair, he ran back to the dormitory. On the way, he also asked a soldier to request half a day off for him.
When he reached the room, he saw Su Su sitting on his bed and looking around. He froze for a while. Only when she smiled did he close the door, cough lightly, and ask, “You… how did you come?”
“I missed you and came to see you. Is that not allowed?”
“It is. I’ll immediately arrange a room for you, then take you out to have fun.”
“Eh, can you leave?”
“I asked for half a day off.”
Su Su immediately hugged him. “Lin Chuan, did you miss me?”
Lin Chuan had originally been forcing himself to stay calm and not panic too much in case he scared his wife. But now there was no one in the room, and she had hugged him. He couldn’t endure it anymore.
He pulled Su Su into his arms, even lifting her up and pressing her against the wall. Then he leaned in and kissed her directly.
In his heart, he was saying: *I missed you. I missed you so much.*
He simply didn’t have time to say it. He was only focused on tasting his wife.
Women were like this. They liked hearing men say sweet words, so bad men were often the most popular with them.
As for men, they thought about using actions to express their love. Like Lin Chuan now.
However, Su Su, who had read the book and knew Lin Chuan’s supporting male lead temperament, finally understood a little. This was probably his way of expressing longing, right???
A little intense.
A little hard to breathe.
A little…
She struggled, kicking and pushing, but no matter what, she couldn’t break free. So her two little legs kept kicking until she finally kicked something important. Lin Chuan let out a muffled groan and finally released her. Then he bent over, looking very uncomfortable.
“Are… are you okay?” She had kicked a vital spot, right? Look at his face, it had turned dark, and sweat was even dripping from his temples. He probably wouldn’t be usable tonight, right? Good if he couldn’t be used. That would save him from tormenting her.
On the surface, Su Su looked concerned, but inside, she was delighted.
“Why do I feel like you seem quite happy that you kicked me?” Lin Chuan’s senses were still very sharp.
“No, your senses must be broken. Are you really okay?”
“I’m fine.” He was definitely fine. She had delivered herself to his door. If he let her go, that would be strange.
Su Su curled her lips, then said, “You still haven’t said it. Did you miss me? If you didn’t, I’ll leave.”
“I did.” Lin Chuan’s survival instincts were still very strong. He directly hugged Su Su and said what was in his heart.
Hearing the words she wanted to hear, Su Su smiled slightly and said, “Then what did you miss about me?”
“…” This wasn’t easy to say. Most of what he missed was her behaviour in bed, and that ** taste.
“Say it. If you don’t say it, then I’ll…”
“I missed you in bed…”
Creak. The door opened.
Both of them froze. They had no idea whether the person coming in had heard.
The person who entered was also awkward. He had only come in to grab a change of clothes and leave, but ended up hearing these two people saying such flirtatious things.
“Sorry to disturb.” Chang Yuejin closed the door again.
Su Su immediately covered her face. “Didn’t you say you had a room to yourself?”
“He… has been borrowing a place here recently.” Who would have known his wife would come at exactly this moment?
“Oh.” Su Su was now so embarrassed she couldn’t raise her head.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you to the guesthouse immediately.” It was quiet there, and no one would disturb them.
“No need. I have a place to stay. Can you go out? Come with me and take a look.” Su Su looked expectant.
“I can. Wait here. I’ll go arrange a vehicle.” Battalion-level officers had assigned vehicles, so they could drive into the city.
Su Su was very happy when she heard there was a vehicle. So she waited there. But since there was a vehicle, it could definitely help her bring back many things. After all, her current home was still missing rice, flour, grain, and oil.
Before long, they went out.
However, when they left, Lin Chuan saw many people outside peeking. He couldn’t help but stop and shout, “Are all of you very free? Do you want to strengthen your training?”
Boom!
The people gathered around instantly disappeared.
Su Su asked strangely, “Who were you talking to?”
“You don’t need to bother about it. Get in the car first.” Lin Chuan helped his wife into the vehicle, then frowned and thought that when he came back, he really had to train them again. If even their presence could be sensed by him, how were they supposed to infiltrate deep behind enemy lines?
Of course, right now, he had no mind to waste on those little soldiers. Along the way, he kept wondering whether his wife had suffered grievances at home. Otherwise, why would she come here alone and find a place to live?
But she didn’t say anything, so he had no choice.
He could only carefully ask, “Did something happen at home?”
“Nothing happened. Oh right, your cousin and the others will probably come over too. But from what I saw, they should go to Qin Yueyue’s home first before coming here. They probably won’t go look for you.” At most, she would meet them.
“Mm.” Lin Chuan frowned. After they entered the city, following Su Su’s directions, they arrived at the X East University family residential area. However, there was no sign at the entrance of the residential area, so he didn’t know where it was.
After they went in, his wife told them to park by the roadside, then opened the door to a small brick house.
“Ta-da! Our new home. Do you like it?” Su Su stepped aside. Lin Chuan walked in and discovered that the house was quite new.
He grew even more suspicious. Closing the door, he frowned and asked, “Did Lin Hai and the others anger you?”
“No?” Su Su was speechless. What did this new house have to do with Lin Hai angering her?
“Then did Qin Yueyue provoke you?”
“No.”
“Then it was Eldest Uncle’s family, or Eldest Sister and the others?”
“Ah, your eldest sister really did provoke me.” Only then did Su Su remember that matter. She angrily explained the whole incident from beginning to end.
When Lin Chuan heard that his eldest brother-in-law had actually seen his wife’s underclothes and even said such insulting words, he couldn’t help clenching his fists. “Next time I go back, I’ll make their family pay.”
“Forget it. Father and Mother were on my side anyway.” Su Su was very open-minded. She didn’t want to keep thinking about things that had already passed.
“So you ran here and rented a house, and you don’t plan to go back in the future?” Lin Chuan had always felt that his wife must have come back after suffering grievances. Sure enough.
“No…”
He took off his cap and said, “Why hide from them? You don’t need to care what others say either. You can stay here for a while first. When there’s a chance, I’ll ask for leave and go back with you. I’ll deal with everyone who dares speak badly of you. If once isn’t enough, twice. If not twice, then within three times, they’ll all behave.”
“Uh, there’s really no need. Fine, fine, I’ll tell the truth.” Su Su pushed Lin Chuan down onto a chair, then told him about how she had been transferred here to become a teacher.
Of course, she also introduced her dormitory to him. “This will be where I live from now on. You’re welcome to visit often.”
“Mm.” His wife really was impressive. She had actually become a university teacher.
And she had been assigned such a good dormitory. Now he would have somewhere to go on his weekend breaks. It was an excellent place indeed.
“Do you like it?” Su Su saw that Lin Chuan still had a stern face and couldn’t tell whether he was happy or angry, so she could only ask.
“Is there any work that needs doing?” Lin Chuan was very practical. Since he was here, he would help his wife do some real work so she could sleep more comfortably.
As expected of the supporting male lead’s temperament. Few words, lots of action. He didn’t know how to say flowery words; he only knew how to do practical things.
“Then help me get some coal first, and then buy some things.”
“Alright. We’ll go to the market together. You buy things, I’ll transport the coal.”
“Okay.” Husband and wife working together made labour less tiring. Very quickly, Su Su bought another large pile of things: curtains, bed curtains, cups, plates, bowls, and of course, rice, flour, grain, oil, and a whole series of other items.
These things weren’t bought casually like in modern times. They had to be bought in barrels, all by the barrel.
A barrel of soy sauce, a barrel of vinegar, a barrel of white liquor, a barrel of oil, and so on.
Why buy liquor? Of course, it was for her man to drink. Usually, he couldn’t drink in the army. When he came to her place on leave, he would definitely want a little. She spoiled her own man, so of course she had to prepare some.
When everything was ready and they returned, Lin Chuan sent the young soldier away and told him to come pick him up tomorrow morning. The young soldier agreed with an ambiguous look on his face, then returned with the sweets Sister-in-law had given him.
“I brought lots of sweets when I went to your place, intending to give them to the soldiers. But you didn’t even let me meet them.”
“There’ll be a chance. Today, let’s first tidy up your place.”
Lin Chuan worked quickly and knew how to do everything. Su Su only sat there watching the fun for a while, and he had basically tidied everything up. Even the curtains were hung, and the front of the door was swept.
Most importantly, Su Su had only gone into the bedroom to spread a bedsheet and arrange the usable things on her desk, but he had already prepared the rice. Then he even stewed a dish of braised pork with tofu. He had already covered the pot and left it to simmer for a while before they could eat.
No one could beat this speed.
Su Su plopped down onto the chair and said, “These past two days have exhausted me to death. If you hadn’t helped me do all this, I definitely wouldn’t know how many days it would take me. I have to report to the school tomorrow.”
“After eating, rest for a while. I’ll move the coal into the kitchen.”
“Lin Chuan, I want to install a toilet inside the house. I don’t want to squeeze outside with everyone else.”
“I’ll handle this.” Lin Chuan never said, “I’ll consider it” or “I’ll think about it.” He only said, “Leave it to me.” Su Su truly loved this point about him, so after eating, she really went to rest.
There was no helping it. Her stamina couldn’t keep up.
Perhaps the freshly made bed was truly too comfortable. After all, she had bought another thick mattress, and lying on it felt soft and fluffy. She practically fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.
When she woke up, she discovered there were faint clanging sounds outside, but they weren’t loud.
She looked and saw that her bedroom door had been closed. When she got out of bed and opened it, she saw Lin Chuan busy working in the washroom. Because the door was shut, the sounds hadn’t been too loud.
Curious, she opened the door and saw that he had actually installed a squat toilet inside. He had also installed a flushing water tank. She had no idea how he knew how to do these things. It was simply too amazing.
It was already installed now. After smoothing the cement, he turned back and said, “You can only use it tomorrow. Tonight, use the bucket we bought.”
“Mm. The toilet isn’t that far anyway.” It was just inconvenient to go there at night.
While he washed his hands, Su Su went over and pulled the flushing rope. It worked very well. She couldn’t help clicking her tongue twice. “How do you know how to do all this?”
“When the army built the family residential building, I saw the workers installing them.”
“You learned it just from watching?”
“It’s not difficult.”
Su Su shook her head. “No, no. I’m afraid I wouldn’t know how to install this even in my next lifetime.”
“You’re already very smart. This is the first time I’ve seen such a young university teacher.” Lin Chuan was sweating from work, so he boiled water and washed himself with a basin. When he saw his wife staring blankly at him, he was no longer shy. He directly pulled off his vest. Without saying a word, he stood there wiping his hair while giving his wife a full display from every angle.
Although the two of them had been very intimate before, they had basically only acted after dark. The old home didn’t have electric lights, and even with candles lit, things couldn’t be seen clearly.
But today, Su Su felt that her eyes had truly been blessed. She could see every part of him clearly.
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