The journey was smooth, and Cheng Su followed Qi Taiguo off the bus and arrived at the military residential compound he had described. She didn’t forget to quietly take in the surroundings and the traffic, as from today, she would be living in this city.
Just as Qi Taiguo had described, the military residential compound was a typical official compound nad Goodwill Place No. 6 Courtyard. It was a square complex, with three-story buildings all around. There was a large courtyard in the middle with many bamboo poles and ropes attached, intended for the residents to hang laundry and enjoy the cool air, as the houses were built without balconies and only had small windowsills, which were inconvenient for drying clothes.
It was five o’clock in the evening when the two of them entered the courtyard and saw aunties and daughters-in-law looking over. They greeted Qi Taiguo warmly and naturally turned their attention to Cheng Su.
"This is my wife; she ca over today," Qi Taiguo said with a smile as he introduced her.
Cheng Su matched his enthusiasm, smiling and waving to everyone, "Hello, everyone, my na is Cheng Su. Please take good care of in the future!"
Her warmth was t with an equally warm response, as it was their first eting. Everyone greeted her, affectionately calling her Sister-in-law Qi and even complinting her with sweet words.
After the pleasantries, Qi Taiguo led her up the stairs.
Cheng Su’s ho was at the Southwest Ladder. Since Qi Taiguo held a higher position, they were allotted a separate two-bedroom, one-living-room unit of about fifty square ters. Most importantly, instead of sharing just one large room or a bedroom and a living room with others, and having communal kitchens, toilets, and shower rooms, their ho had a private bathroom. However, the kitchen was still shared with everyone else.
Still, Cheng Su was very satisfied, especially when she saw the bathroom inside the house; she was so pleased she practically jumped for joy, glad to no longer endure the misery of pit latrines.
Moreover, she was well aware of the living conditions of the era; not having to share a bathroom with others was a blessing in itself.
She rembered visiting a colleague’s ho in her past life—it was in such a compound with shared bathrooms, completely lacking in privacy, and her colleague had even been spied on!
As Qi Taiguo had always lived alone, there wasn’t much furniture in the house, just tables, chairs, so stools, and a few wooden cabinets.
The two bedrooms, one large and one small, with the smaller one only contained a modest bivouac bed.
Cheng Su’s thoughts imdiately sprang to life upon seeing this; it was perfect—there were two rooms, so they could sleep separately.
Anyway, although they were husband and wife, there was no love between them, and since they wouldn’t be intimate, she thought of their living together more as roommates, close yet companions at a distance.
If they talked it over properly and set so clear rules, he would agree, wouldn’t he? He was a proud man, after all.
Cheng Su glanced at Qi Taiguo, then looked out into the corridor outside their ladder.
Their section only had four households, separated by an iron door to form an individual unit. One of the units was still empty, while the others were already occupied. Hearing their arrival, the neighbors ca out to see.
As Qi Taiguo introduced the wives of the households, Cheng Su got to know the neighbors nad Chunhua and Guiying.
"I need to go back to the base for duty; you stay here by yourself. I won’t return tonight. For dinner, I’ll have soone bring it to you in a bit. Familiarize yourself with the surroundings for now," Qi Taiguo said after glancing at the small alarm clock in the room. He then asked Chunhua and the others to introduce Cheng Su to the compound and hurried back to the base for his shift.
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