Chapter 87: The Pretty Military Wife¹ of the Seventies 10

Liu Zhanyuan felt it was incredibly bad luck to see Zhan Hongjun.

He had transferred units, but damn it, why hadn’t anyone told him that Zhan Hongjun was here?

If he had known Zhan Hongjun was here…

Well, he couldn’t have done much anyway. Because of this transfer, his father had been moved to the second line of leadership², and it was no longer suitable for them to keep making waves.

Liu Zhanyuan understood that his future days would not be pleasant.

How could he be happy seeing Zhan Hongjun?

Zhan Hongjun didn’t have nearly as many negative emotions. He just felt that living across the hall from Liu Zhanyuan was unlucky, but he didn’t think Liu Zhanyuan could actually affect his life.

However, after Zhan Hongjun finished sweeping the floor, he stood at his doorway looking at Liu Zhanyuan’s house, wondering if his ex-wife had ended up with this man.

If they had, there would be some fun to watch in the future.

Zhan Hongjun was actually just like Liu Zhanyuan, a Battalion-level Officer³ who had just been transferred here this year.

After finishing the cleaning, Zhan Hongjun went to the Logistics Department.

They had said they would give him a reply today regarding how his wife’s job would be arranged.

When he arrived at the Logistics Department, he ran into Liu Zhanyuan again.

Liu Zhanyuan had also remarried, and his wife was Xu Chunxia. She was also currently waiting for a job assignment.

Xu Chunxia had married Liu Zhanyuan for the sake of arranging jobs for her parents and her younger brother.

If not for that, Xu Chunxia wouldn’t have given Liu Zhanyuan a second look.

But now her parents’ and brother’s jobs hadn’t been made permanent yet, so she could only go through with the marriage and keep Liu Zhanyuan on the hook, planning to adapt to future events as they came.

However, Xu Chunxia had paid a price for those three jobs; she had to follow him as a Military Wife.

Liu Zhanyuan had come to the Logistics Department to coordinate the work arrangements for his wife, Xu Chunxia.

The two men looked at each other, both thinking the same thing: It’s a small world for enemies!

The head of the Logistics Department saw that both had arrived and didn’t waste any time, briskly pulling out three documents.

“Within our military unit, the Finance Section is recruiting. As long as their skills are up to par, they can enlist immediately. You can ask your wives if they can do it. This requires an examination; they can only do the job if they pass.” For a Military Wife, the best option was to be able to enlist, but it was very difficult and opportunities were rare!

“The other two jobs are: one is a primary school teacher for the military dependents’ compound, and the other is a warehouse manager needed at the supply and marketing cooperative⁴ five miles away.” Naturally, the job at the dependents’ primary school was better, as it was also considered an internal position within the unit.

With only three jobs, there wasn’t much room for picking and choosing.

Zhan Hongjun borrowed the phone on the spot to call his mother, asking her to find out which job Su Huandan wanted.

When she returned from work that evening and was asked by her mother-in-law, Su Huandan said without a second thought that she wanted to enlist and work in finance.

Enlisting meant being part of the official establishment⁵, and she already had skills in finance.

Wasn’t this better than being laid off ten or so years later?

Starting from the nineties, with the wave of layoffs, how many factories had gone straight into bankruptcy?

Workers were only in high demand during the sixties and seventies, barely getting by in the eighties. By the nineties, if you weren’t in a good unit, you would really face the impact of the layoff surge.

This matter was truly no joke.

Furthermore, enlisting counted as being a soldier. She had never been one before and wanted to try it; it felt very interesting.

Zhan Hongjun remembered Su Huandan saying that she was quite good at bookkeeping. The accountants in her factory’s finance department always liked to ask her for help.

That was indeed the case. Su Huandan had revealed this skill in order to mingle with the finance department, as the benefits there were better, and they even got one extra meat coupon every month.

As it turned out, Xu Chunxia also had her eye on the finance position.

Xu Chunxia knew her own limits. She could keep books, but she wasn’t at the level required for professional finance. She just wanted to try and see if she could squeeze into the official establishment first, then transfer positions later.

A beautiful daydream.

So she was also cautious and asked for the primary school teacher position as well. She didn’t commit fully, implying she would try for finance, but if she couldn’t do it, she could still be a primary school teacher.

The Logistics Department head naturally had no objections.

Once the military procedures arrived, Su Huandan went to the factory director to get her certification materials. She also found the head of the finance department to write a recommendation letter, stating that she was very capable in financial work.

After that, she boarded a train to go find Zhan Hongjun.

Before she left, her parents-in-law and her eldest sister-in-law gave her plenty of various coupons that were valid nationwide.

She didn’t bring many personal belongings, saying that everything would be available there, and if not, she could call home and have things mailed.

The family had already been gradually mailing quite a few things over recently, even the bedding had been sent.

So Su Huandan was traveling light on the train.

In the same carriage, a sleeper car, there were both men and women, and nothing much happened.

When she arrived at her destination and saw Zhan Hongjun, who had driven over to pick her up, Su Huandan was quite excited.

“It’s only been two months, but my wife has become even more radiant.” In private, Zhan Hongjun was a smooth talker who always liked to praise Su Huandan.

He had even praised the individual strands of her hair.

“Alright, stop the smooth talk. Is the unit far? After sitting on the train for so long, I feel terribly dizzy.” Su Huandan wasn’t lying. The green-skinned train⁶ had been clattering along, and after being jolted for so long, it was quite uncomfortable.

“It’s not far. It’s a forty-minute drive. Get in the car quickly. I’ve already tidied up the house. Take a good rest. The day after tomorrow, you can go to the Finance Section to take the exam. If you pass, you’ll become my comrade-in-arms.” Zhan Hongjun was incredibly happy.

It was naturally best if the couple didn’t have to be apart.

Zhan Hongjun’s driving was a bit wild. He also liked to show off his skills to Su Huandan, but in the eyes of Su Huandan, who had seen professional car racing, his skills were just average.

Once they reached the unit and finished the registration, Zhan Hongjun drove the car over to the office building area.

Only after returning the car did he lead Su Huandan toward their home.

He would greet acquaintances they met on the way, introducing Su Huandan to who this person or that person was.

After they passed by, Zhan Hongjun’s comrades-in-arms whispered among themselves.

“Zhan Hongjun’s wife is really pretty, even better looking than the star of the performing arts troupe.”

“Exactly, that face, that figure, the troupe star can’t compare.”

Soon, a rumor spread within the unit that Zhan Hongjun’s wife was a beauty.

When Liu Zhanyuan heard this, he sneered, “What’s the use of looking good? For a woman, you still have to look at her inner character and upbringing.”

Liu Zhanyuan was exactly the kind of person who didn’t know how to speak properly.

In the army, the vast majority of soldiers came from rural backgrounds, and the same was true for the military wives. One could only imagine what those women from the countryside would think if they heard his words.

Su Huandan stepped into the small courtyard. It was about ten square meters, with a small path paved with red bricks running through the middle. Zhan Hongjun had already planted things on both sides.

“I originally wanted to plant some flowers for you, and I had already prepared the soil. But when Sister-in-law Niu next door saw me busy, she went ahead and planted Chinese cabbage for us. She said if we plant them now, they’ll be ready to harvest by the time it snows,” Zhan Hongjun explained. It was difficult for him to change it now; she had acted out of kindness, even if that kind of helpfulness could be a bit of a burden.

Su Huandan was actually deeply grateful to Sister-in-law Niu. Over the past two months, she had already turned the front and back yards of their small two-story house in the military compound into vegetable patches.

Whether it was flowers or vegetables, things were being grown either way, and in this day and age, planting vegetables was far more practical than planting flowers.

“It’s very nice. We really should thank Sister-in-law Niu properly,” Su Huandan said with a smile as she entered the house.

Translator’s Notes