“Mom! Grandma! I was wrong! I won’t do it again next time!”
This time, He Anning truly realized her mistake! At that moment, she regretted it immensely, regretting why she had been so cocky.
Now it was too late. Everyone in the entire Military District Compound knew how beautiful and likable her family’s Fairy Little Aunt was.
What if, what if her family’s Fairy Little Aunt really got whisked away by someone else…
At that thought, the little girl’s face turned ghastly pale in an instant, her eyes filled with panic as she looked toward Qiao Shu beside her.
“Little Aunt, you won’t get whisked away by someone else, right!”
Hearing He Anning’s words and seeing the panicked expression on her face, Qiao Shu couldn’t help but feel both amused and exasperated.
In fact, from the moment He Yingzi had lectured He Anning earlier, she had already found the situation rather amusing.
What was the big deal? Look how nervous they all were.
As if she was about to be snatched away any minute.
However, seeing He Anning’s uneasy little round face, Qiao Shu still spoke softly to reassure the child.
“Of course not.”
Hearing Qiao Shu’s response, He Anning finally relaxed, letting out a long sigh of relief.
“That’s good, that’s good~!”
The little girl patted her chest, putting on a relieved little adult expression that truly amused Qiao Shu beside her.
She just felt that He Anning and Jiang Lekang, this pair of siblings, were simply too adorable. If only Feng Xiao’s two stepchildren were as cute as these two!
Although He Anning breathed a sigh of relief because of Qiao Shu’s words, He Hong and He Yingzi still hadn’t let go of their worries.
Especially He Hong, who was wholeheartedly trying to matchmake Qiao Shu and Feng Xiao. She felt not the slightest sense of security!
After all, her son hadn’t even shown up yet! Though he had already submitted the marriage report, they still hadn’t held the wedding or gotten the marriage certificate!
If someone cut in and stole her son’s bride-to-be, she really wouldn’t even have a place to cry!
So that very day, He Hong sent an urgent telegram urging her son, the regiment leader who was still at the front lines, to hurry back home, hold the banquet, and get the marriage certificate!
Unfortunately, no matter how quickly He Hong sent the telegram, it couldn’t outpace the wagging tongues in the Military District Compound!
In less than half a day, Qiao Shu had thoroughly become the big celebrity of the Military District Compound. All the soldiers and family members there knew that a stunning beauty as gorgeous as a fairy had arrived in their compound!
That entire afternoon, the family members of the Military District Compound, as well as the sentries who had seen Qiao Shu during their patrols that day, were all discussing her, marveling that there could be such a beautiful person in the world.
“Old Chief Feng is truly capable. He actually managed to arrange such a fairy-like beauty as a wife for his grandson.”
“This isn’t some countryside little wife at all! She’s clearly a celestial fairy fallen from the heavens! If anyone isn’t worthy, it’s that Feng Xiao kid who isn’t worthy of the young lady!”
“Oh my! That girl is really stunning! I’m not exaggerating, old lady that I am, I’ve seen plenty of people, but never a girl prettier than the little wife from the Feng Family.”
“Regiment Leader Feng is so lucky to have such a beautiful wife. If I had a wife that pretty, I’d be grinning in my sleep every night.”
“I’m so envious of Regiment Leader Feng, marrying such a fairy-like beauty…”
…
That afternoon, the entire Military District Compound was filled with praises for Qiao Shu’s beauty, along with words of envy, jealousy, and hate toward the Feng Family and Feng Xiao!
Qiao Shu the great beauty’s fame had long spread throughout the Military District Compound where the Feng Family resided, and even reached several neighboring Military Family Courtyards.
Some people who were on good terms with the Feng Family even ran over to the Feng Family, wanting to see if Qiao Shu was really as beautiful as everyone said.
But He Hong had been guarding against those nosy neighbors in the Military District Compound who wanted to poach all along. She had long guessed that some might come out of curiosity to see her daughter-in-law and chat idly, so when He Yingzi’s family drove away, she had her daughter take Qiao Shu out for a stroll.
On one hand, since it was Qiao Shu’s first time in the Capital, she naturally needed to play around properly. On the other hand, of course it was to… dodge that group of ‘neighbors’ trying to poach her son’s partner~!
Thus, those who came for Qiao Shu left full of anticipation but disappointed.
Meanwhile, the Qiao Shu they had in mind was happily sitting in He Yingzi’s sedan, with He Anning and Jiang Lekang holding her arms tightly, one on each side, sticking close to her.
“Shushu, let’s keep shopping at the mall. We didn’t buy much for you at noon, and there’s still a lot we haven’t gotten.”
He Yingzi glanced at Qiao Shu, who was tightly hugged by her two children, through the rearview mirror. Her voice was very gentle as she spoke.
However, faced with He Yingzi’s suggestion to keep shopping, Qiao Shu wasn’t all that enthusiastic.
After all, it was the resource-scarce 1980s now, and the things in the mall held little appeal for Qiao Shu, who came from the future.
Moreover, Qiao Shu wasn’t someone who loved shopping to begin with. Her preferred way to shop was online, clicking with a finger to get things from all over the world.
So after a brief moment of thought, she rejected He Yingzi’s suggestion.
“Sister, I don’t want to go to the mall. Could you drop me off at a bookstore so I can read?”
Hearing that Qiao Shu didn’t want to go to the mall but wanted to go to a bookstore instead, He Yingzi was immediately stunned.
Even Jiang Zheng, who had been sitting quietly in the passenger seat and rarely spoke to Qiao Shu, turned his head in surprise and said in astonishment.
“To the bookstore? Does Shushu love reading?”
Seeing the shocked expressions on He Yingzi’s family’s faces at her suggestion, Qiao Shu nodded a bit embarrassedly.
“Mm, although my Gaokao scores weren’t great and I didn’t get into university. But I do love reading, so Sister, compared to going to the mall to buy clothes, I prefer going to the bookstore to read books and newspapers.”
What Qiao Shu said was half true, half false. The truth was that the original owner’s Gaokao scores really weren’t good; the false part was… she actually didn’t love reading that much.
She just wanted to go to the bookstore to see the writing of this era, to know what kinds of books were popular, and what publishers and newspapers existed.
After all… as a writer in her previous life, she wanted to take up the pen again this life.
Not to mention making big money, at least it would give her something to do, earn some pocket money, help her integrate better into this era, and give her more confidence.
Hearing Qiao Shu’s words, He Yingzi and Jiang Zheng were both deeply moved, their fondness for her growing even more.
After all, which parents didn’t like children who loved reading and studying?
Especially Jiang Zheng, who was a literary type himself that loved reading books and newspapers. After hearing this, his initial distance toward Qiao Shu vanished, replaced by a surge of goodwill.
“But…”
He Yingzi had been thinking that she finally had a day off to accompany Qiao Shu shopping and buy things for her, so today they should definitely go to the mall and shop.
After all, bookstores could be visited anytime.
But before she could finish, Jiang Zheng interrupted her.
“Yingzi, let’s go to the bookstore. It’ll be good for Shushu to take Ningning and Kangkang there to get some cultural exposure.”
Jiang Zheng smiled at He Yingzi and said warmly.
“But Shushu still has so many things she hasn’t bought yet…”
He Yingzi’s brows furrowed slightly; she still felt they should go to the mall first to buy things.
Before Qiao Shu could say that she already had everything from home and didn’t need to buy more, Jiang Zheng smiled and resolved the issue.
“We can drop Shushu off at the bookstore first, let her take Ningning and Kangkang to read. We two can go to the mall and buy things for Shushu.”
As he spoke, Jiang Zheng gave He Yingzi a somewhat wistful smile. “Yingzi, it’s been so long since we’ve had a proper date alone…”
He Yingzi, who had still been uneasy about leaving Qiao Shu and the two kids at the bookstore, softened her expression immediately upon hearing her husband’s words.
“Brother Zheng, but with no one watching those three kids, I’m still a bit worried…”
Seeing that even as an adult, He Yingzi still treated her like a little kid, Qiao Shu immediately spoke up in her own defense.
“Sister, I’m already nineteen, an adult, not a child. Don’t worry. Go enjoy your couple’s time with Brother-in-law. I’ll look after Ningning and Kangkang.
Besides, Ningning and Kangkang are so well-behaved; they’ll definitely stick close to me and not run off. So you don’t need to worry about us at all.”
The two little ones nodded their little heads furiously upon hearing Qiao Shu.
“Yeah, Mom, we’ll definitely listen to Little Aunt. You and Dad go shopping! I’ll be good and won’t cause any trouble!”
“Mm-hmm, Kangkang will be good and listen to Little Aunt properly, won’t run off~!”
Under the guarantees from the ‘three little ones’ and everyone’s anticipation, in the end, the minority gave way to the majority, and He Yingzi compromised.
In the end, after dropping Qiao Shu and the two children off at a bookstore not far from the mall, He Yingzi went off with her husband for their rare ‘couple’s time’~!
Since it wasn’t a weekend, there weren’t many people in the bookstore—just a few scattered customers here and there.
Seeing so few people, Qiao Shu felt much more relaxed and comfortable.
Qiao Shu first took the two little ones to the novel section and the periodical area, grabbed some books and newspapers, then led them to pick out picture books they liked.
Once the three had selected their books, they each hugged their choices and started reading.
This reading made Qiao Shu, who had been full of confidence that she could definitely make money writing novels, suddenly lose some of her enthusiasm.
The reason was simple: the popular writing of this era was all too ‘red,’ the novels full of heroic, positive, and revolutionary themes, plain and unadorned.
Although in her previous life, Qiao Shu had written across many genres and types of stories.
But she simply couldn’t write this era’s unique red-style, plain novels!
However, this didn’t trouble her for long, because… she discovered a genre of novels she could write in this era~!
That was—children’s books!