A stunning beauty arrived on the island; she invented everything from childcare to babysitting.

Anning and Zhao Xuemei went to the window to look and saw Aunt Wu and her daughter-in-law.

"Go and have a look."

The two, who had originally planned to go later, immediately abandoned their original plan when they saw that there was something interesting to see.

Since I have nothing to do at home anyway, why not go and see what's going on?

Anning's bucket was right next to them, and Zhao Xuemei quickly went home to get the bucket and came out, following the two at a distance.

The pregnant woman was very unwilling, but her mother-in-law was scolding her, so she had no choice but to go with her.

"Is Aunt Wu trying to make her daughter-in-law carry water? Her daughter-in-law is already eight months pregnant!" Zhao Xuemei couldn't help but ask An Ning.

An Ning was speechless: "It looks like it to me, otherwise why would I bring a bucket out?"

"Good heavens, this old man won't be happy unless he ruins his grandson, will he?"

When we arrived at the well, there was already a long queue. It took at least two minutes for each person to arrive, and with such a long queue, it would take at least two hours to get there.

Seeing the long queue, Aunt Wu told her daughter-in-law, Guo Shuzhen, to continue queuing while she turned around and went back.

Zhao Xuemei quickly led An Ning to Guo Shuzhen's side, patted her on the shoulder, and seemed to know her well.

"Does your mother-in-law want you to carry water back, or do she want you to stand here in line?"

When Guo Shuzhen saw that it was Zhao Xuemei, she gave a wry smile: "She asked me to carry water back."

"You really agreed? You're so pregnant now, you can't be careless," Zhao Xuemei advised. "Why don't you go back and wait for your husband to come back from get out of class before having him come over to fight, or have him find a soldier to help you fight."

"Forget it," Guo Shuzhen shook her head. "If I didn't listen to her and fetch water, who knows what excuse she would have used to cause me trouble! It's not far from home, as long as I'm careful, nothing will happen."

Seeing that the person involved had said so, Zhao Xuemei naturally couldn't keep trying to persuade her, so she turned to talk to An Ning about other things.

Halfway through the queue, a soldier brought over a water pump, which halved the time it took to fetch water and made the process much faster. Soon it was Guo Shuzhen's turn.

Anning and Zhao Xuemei watched as she dragged her bloated body, carrying a full bucket of water, and slowly made her way home.

The two only filled the bucket halfway before leaving.

Now that they were some distance from Guo Shuzhen, Zhao Xuemei spoke up: "Guo Shuzhen is actually a good person. When she first came, we got along well, but she wasn't very flexible. After her mother-in-law came, her husband told her to be patient, and she really did endure everything. She did whatever her mother-in-law asked her to do without any resistance. At first, I tried to persuade her, but later I stopped trying because she wouldn't listen."

Anning comforted her, "If she doesn't listen, then so be it. You've already done your duty. With her mother-in-law like that, you can't just interfere directly."

Perhaps this is what they mean by "every pitiful person has something hateful about them"!

Sometimes, when you take it upon yourself to help others, they may not appreciate your help; instead, they may think you are meddling in their business.

An Ning had never met Guo Shuzhen and didn't know what kind of person she was, but judging from her experiences, she was very similar to the original owner of this body.

If you don't seek change, you'll only end up like the original person, on a dead end.

After fetching the water, Anning went to find Yan Fei.

Yan Fei readily agreed to An Ning's idea.

"Don't worry, sister-in-law, I'll take care of this little thing. I'll have someone bring over the necessary items this afternoon. Tell me what kind you want, and it would be best if you could draw a picture. I guarantee I'll make you an exact replica!"

An Ning said, "Then I'll trouble you! How many people are coming? I'll cook a little extra tonight so everyone can have a simple meal at my place before they leave."

"Sister-in-law, you don't need to be so polite. It's nothing, there's no need for them to stay for a meal."

Anyone else would have been in serious trouble, but Anning was here because the regimental commander had personally given the order, and Company Commander Song had also spoken to her specifically for his wife's sake. It couldn't be done the usual way.

“Yes, yes.” An Ning wasn’t one to be impolite. “I inquired before I came; it’s the rule in the military. Have you forgotten? The military even gave me a 3,000 yuan bonus last time! I can afford to treat them to a meal.”

Yan Fei chuckled and scratched his head: "Alright then! I'll bring four people with me."

"Wouldn't four people be too few? How about we call a few more? That way we can move faster and everyone can relax a bit more," An Ning asked.

"Then let's have six! Two people will till the land, and the rest will dig wood, dig holes, and build pavilions."

"Alright, then I'll prepare enough for seven people."

This includes Yan Fei as well.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, sister-in-law! I knew you were a good cook when I tried the squid strips before, and now I finally have the chance to eat them!"

"It's me who's troubling you."

After returning home, Anning went directly to the military service station. There were seven people there, plus her and her daughter, making a total of nine.

Since we already have so many people, let's just call Zhao Xuemei over to join us. That makes eleven people, so we can prepare about nine dishes.

During this period, she and her child ate only white rice for every meal, and the stack of food coupons that Yan Fei had given her before had visibly decreased in size.

Soldiers have large appetites, so it's impossible to provide only white rice. Otherwise, one meal would consume more than half a month's worth of ration coupons. It would be better to make sweet potato rice or pumpkin rice, which tastes good and can fill their stomachs.

For the dishes, one braised pork belly, two fish, two stir-fried dishes with a mix of meat and vegetables, three all-vegetarian dishes, one cold salad, and one soup should be enough.

Anning carried a lot of things back home. It was almost noon. She quickly made herself and her child a simple dish and soup, and then started preparing the ingredients for dinner.

Yan Fei acted quickly, arriving with his men at 1 p.m.

As he said, the six young and shy soldiers were a little embarrassed when they saw An Ning, so they called her "sister-in-law" and started working.

They must have divided the work before they arrived; the two of them were digging the ground with hoes, working hard and diligently.

The rest of them were responsible for planing the wood.

Actually, there's no need to plank them much. These planks were taken from some building, and you can use them directly after removing the outer layer.

Anning showed them the blueprints for the pavilion.

She didn't actually plan to make it too fancy; she just wanted to build a pavilion like a grape trellis so she could grow some grapes to eat.

The young soldier in charge of building the pavilion glanced at it and flashed a bright white smile: "That's easy, leave it to us! As for the base, we'll make it cement for you, that way it'll be easier to clean."

Anning's kitchen was right by the door; they could see it when they came in. There was fish and meat on the table; it must be their dinner.

Seeing this, they were even more motivated to work.

"Okay, I don't know much about this either, you guys can just do it yourselves."