Before being reborn and getting married, the pampered young lady emptied her family's assets to

Chapter 22 The First Day of Marriage

Anmin's face flushed as she recalled the embarrassment of last night.

After lying in bed for a while, Anmin rubbed her temples, trying to shake off those chaotic thoughts.

Now is not the time to think about this.

She tiptoed out of bed, quickly washed up, and the cold water splashed on her face, completely waking her up.

Today's tasks are heavy.

She needed to tidy up the house, and more importantly, after dinner, she had to pretend to go to the train station to retrieve the things from her spatial storage.

She neatly pulled her long, black hair back and wrapped it in an old cotton cloth she found in a corner of the room.

The fabric is a bit old, a dull gray, but the edges are embroidered with a few faded little plum blossoms, which can still be seen as quite unique if you look closely.

Anmin tightened the cloth covering the basin of water to make sure it wouldn't come undone before she began to work.

The house wasn't big, and all the furniture was newly made, looking brand new.

Besides tables and chairs, there were also two large wooden wardrobes and two camphor wood chests made by Liang Yi.

The newly purchased sofa has also been moved in, and a radio is placed on the coffee table.

Anmin looked around and finally realized what was wrong.

There were no curtains; the windows were bare, without even a curtain.

She sighed. It wasn't easy to decorate the house like this in such a short time.

If Liang Yi were to prepare the curtains, who knows what kind of mess it would turn out like.

Fortunately, she had some simple blue curtains in her room, which she could cut and use later.

Thinking of this, Anmin rolled up her sleeves, used an old cloth as a rag, dampened it with water, and began to wipe the cabinet.

She worked very diligently, leaning slightly forward, her slender waist showing a clear curve with each movement.

This is the scene that Liang Yi saw when he pushed open the door.

The sunlight streamed through the window covered with old newspapers, casting a hazy glow over her.

She was bent over, and the lines of her profile were clean and soft.

The cloth with faded little flowers wrapped around her head, though it was the most ordinary work clothes, made her look extraordinary.

Suddenly, an old pictorial magazine that Liang Yi had seen in the regimental reading room flashed through his mind.

It has a picture of a female singer on it, with a floral headscarf wrapped around her head—that's the feeling.

He paused for a moment before stepping in, the two large enamel lunchboxes he was carrying clinking together with a soft clatter.

Anmin was startled by the sound and suddenly sat up straight and turned around.

Seeing it was him, she breathed a sigh of relief, put down the rag in her hand, and said softly, "You're back."

"Ah."

Liang Yi's voice was deep and slightly hoarse.

He placed two heavy lunchboxes on the table: "I got some breakfast from the cafeteria. Are you hungry?"

Lifting the lid, the distinctive aroma of the cafeteria's large-pot dishes immediately wafted out.

One lunchbox contained several golden cornbread buns, while the other was mostly filled with sticky porridge, with a few unevenly cut pieces of pickled vegetables floating on top.

Liang Yi pushed the box of cornbread towards where An Min was sitting, without even lifting his eyelids.

She's so thin. When Liang Yi put his arm around her waist last night, he estimated that her waist wasn't even as wide as his arm.

Holding her felt like holding a bamboo pole; she was so thin she was just skin and bones.

Does her family not feed her? She's so thin.

But Liang Yi would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen.

Before joining the army, Liang Yi was a well-known cowherd in the surrounding villages.

The cattle under his care were all plump and strong.

An Min paused for a moment, then sat down silently across the table without saying a word.

She was indeed thin. During her years at the An family, she never got her hands on the good things and had to be on guard at all times.

Anmin picked up a cornbread bun; it was warm and a little hard. She lowered her head and nibbled at it in small bites. The rough texture of the cornmeal was a bit rough on her throat, but she thought it tasted pretty good.

For a moment, only the soft sounds of chewing could be heard at the dinner table.

An Min was sipping her bland porridge when she caught a glimpse of Liang Yi's chopsticks moving out of the corner of her eye.

Instead of serving it to himself, he reached past the box of pickled vegetables and straight towards the half-empty bowl of porridge in front of her.

Her heart skipped a beat, her whole body tensed, and she froze in her tracks as she ate her cornbread.

The tip of the chopsticks held a small piece of something firmly in place.

Golden and crispy at the edges, it turned out to be scrambled eggs.

The cafeteria even serves scrambled eggs for breakfast?
This was an absolute rarity; that precious sheen of oil dispelled the blandness of the cornbread and millet porridge.

After handing the scrambled eggs to An Min, Liang Yi across from her remained silent.

He put down his chopsticks, picked up his bowl of tasteless porridge, and began to drink it.

An Min's peripheral vision caught only a glimpse of the unusually bright red patch at the base of his ear, like a thin layer of sunset.

I thought he was genuinely calm.

"Thank you."

She thanked him softly and lowered her head to continue eating.

After finishing breakfast, Liang Yi tidied up his lunchbox and got up.

"I'm going to the camp. I have to go on patrol today, so I might be back a little late. Don't bother saving me any food."

"Oh... okay, I understand."

After explaining his destination and return date, Liang Yi left.

Anmin heard his footsteps pause for a moment outside the door, then quickly move away and gradually disappear into the dirt road outside the courtyard.

The room suddenly fell silent, leaving only Anmin alone.

Anmin didn't delay any longer and prepared to go out after washing the lunchbox.

She walked to the camphor wood chest in the corner, which was neither new nor old, and squatted down to open it.

There weren't many things in the box, mostly old clothes.

She buried herself in the contents and searched for a moment before pulling out a dark gray garment made of thick, colored fabric.

The clothes were thick and heavy, and the style was so old that it was almost impossible to tell the age of them. The cuffs and elbows were worn and shiny, and the fabric was stiff.

Wearing it would completely envelop her slender figure, making her look like a bulky cloth bag.

These were originally intended by Liang Yi to be dismantled and used to make linen, with the old cotton inside used to make small cushions for chairs.

She deftly took off her slightly thin everyday clothes and put on this old garment.

She looked at herself in the blurry mercury mirror on the cabinet by the wall.

The figure in the mirror was a drab mess, with its hair tightly wrapped in an old cloth, and half of its face covered, leaving only a pale, pointed chin exposed.

Very good, inconspicuous enough.

She tugged at her coat to make sure she was completely covered up.

As she pushed open the door, a chilly autumn morning air rushed in, making her shrink back.

The dirt road leading from the gate of the compound to the family quarters was deserted.

It was the time when everyone was busy with housework or going to the cafeteria for meals.

She kept her head down, quickened her pace, and tried to walk close to the side of the road to avoid running into acquaintances.

The dirt road underfoot was covered in frost, hard and crunchy with each step.

The wind blew against my face, stinging it and dissipating the remaining heat.

Anmin dressed like this because she was afraid of running into someone she knew. If someone saw her and started talking to her, and then wanted to go with her, things could get complicated.

This way it won't be conspicuous and it will make it easier for her to retrieve the items.

(End of this chapter)