Daily Life in the 70s-Chapter 174: Rumors (Additional - )

Du Juanjuan looked askance and said, "Mr. Yang, are you here on a date with Camp Commander Shen? Why choose such a place?"

Nowadays, the term "date" was widely accepted, and it was considered perfectly respectable for those who were courting.

In her mind, the very least one would do is dine out or go to a park. What was the point of coming to this shabby place? And she had even dressed up in a skirt for it, which was laughable.

Yang PeiMin laughed, "This place is quite nice, you know? As long as the person beside me is my lawful partner, what does it matter where we are?"

Country folk will be country folk, that was their limited perspective.

Du Juanjuan sneered inwardly.

When Shen Yiguang heard his wife’s words, a smile spread across his face, his eyes soft with affection.

He then said to Du Juanjuan, "We won’t disturb you two any longer; we’re going to take a walk over there."

It was a diplomatic way of sending them away.

Wen Qing was taken aback for a moment, then nodded her head and stepped aside as well.

But Du Juanjuan’s face lost its pleasant look.

After they walked past, she couldn’t help but mutter under her breath, "Country people really have no manners whatsoever."

Wen Qing tugged at her sleeve, "Keep it down, don’t let them hear you." As she spoke, she glanced at Yang PeiMin and their fading silhouettes—him in his crisp, military uniform looking valiant and her in her dress, delicate and graceful, yet her eyes seemed dim and distracted.

It was as if she was back on that night.

When she faced despair, he appeared, the sky pitch black, devoid of moon and stars, yet he seemed to descend from the heavens draped in celestial colors.

"If they hear, let them hear. What, I’m scared of them?" Du Juanjuan said, still indignant.

Her slightly sharp voice snapped Wen Qing back from her reverie.

"Alright, even if they can’t do anything, we don’t want to be criticized for talking behind people’s backs, do we? Let’s go back; your brother-in-law should be home."

"He won’t be back so soon. He mentioned something about extended training; I doubt he’ll return before nine." Du Juanjuan felt a twinge of dissatisfaction as she talked about her husband’s overtime training while others’ husbands could leisurely spend time with their wives.

"You mean it’s just a matter of being a deputy or not? Do they really need such unequal treatment? That Shen fellow gets to come back so early." Shao Hui held the rank of deputy battalion commander, not part of the same unit as Shen Yiguang. Their backgrounds and positions didn’t match up, with Shen Yiguang, a soldier from the countryside, ending up in a higher position than her husband, which increasingly irked her.

"Everyone has different tasks and work; it might not necessarily be because of rank. Maybe it’s just your brother-in-law’s turn today." Wen Qing knew of her cousin’s grievances and tried to console her.

"Let’s not talk about this anymore. As for that Shen Yiguang, he’s just so-so. Look at how his wife dressed, he doesn’t even stop her. Do you think that’s how a simple Military Wife should dress? It just shows he’s shallow, attracted to pretty faces. That’s the type of man he is; he won’t get far."

Wen Qing managed a wry smile and said, "Whatever he is, it has nothing to do with me now."

Du Juanjuan appeared surprised, "Cousin, have you really let go? Auntie found so many talented young men for you, and you weren’t interested in any. I thought you still had feelings for that man with the surname..."

"Juanjuan," Wen Qing didn’t want to continue this topic, "That’s all in the past, let’s not talk about it anymore."

"Cousin..." Du Juanjuan caught up with Wen Qing, "Are you really content with this? That Shen guy might not deserve you, but you can’t just let him marry and have children without any consequences, can you? Didn’t you see how nauseating they were just now? Even bystanders would find it embarrassing... We can’t let this pair..."

Wen Qing grew somewhat impatient, "Alright, I know what I’m doing."

Yang PeiMin walked with Shen Yiguang until the sky started to darken before they returned.

Stretching lazily, she said, "It’s quite nice to take a walk like this. It really lifts the spirits. Seems like I should get out more often."

Shen Yiguang glanced at her waist and said meaningfully, "Indeed, regular exercise can improve your stamina, so you won’t always run out of energy."

"I think you should join us for a run on the training field every morning. Stick with it for a month, and I guarantee you won’t be gasping and sweating profusely anymore."

Yang PeiMin looked at him with a serious, contemplative expression and hurriedly shook her head like a drum in a heat wave, "No thanks, I have my own ways of training. Save that method for your soldiers."

Fearing his imperious nature which allowed no argument, she quickly added, "Besides, you wouldn’t want the entire battalion distracted by your wife’s striking presence instead of focusing on their training, would you?"

The contemplative look in Shen Yiguang’s eyes finally dissipated.

Yang PeiMin let out a sigh of relief.

"We should speed up a bit; it’s getting dark."

Although she said this and quickened her pace, she still couldn’t match Shen Yiguang’s long strides—one of his equaled two of hers.

Before they reached the dormitory, they ran into Qiao Ying.

To be precise, it wasn’t a chance meeting; she was waiting for her on purpose.

Seeing Shen Yiguang by Yang PeiMin’s side, Qiao Ying walked over and saluted him, "Camp Commander Shen, may I borrow your wife for a moment?"

The corner of Shen Yiguang’s mouth twitched as he looked at Yang PeiMin.

Yang PeiMin said, "You go ahead, I’ll have a word with Qiao Ying."

Shen Yiguang stood still, eyes fixed on her, "No worries, I have to stop by the Political Commissar’s office anyway. You two go ahead to the upper floors to talk. There are too many mosquitoes here."

Qiao Ying nodded as well, "Okay, let’s go upstairs, PeiMin. Thank you, Camp Commander Shen."

Yang PeiMin waved at Shen Yiguang, seeing that Qiao Ying likely had more than just a word or two.

Back in the dormitory, Qiao Ying immediately said, "PeiMin, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that Wen Qing was involved in rumors with your husband before."

Yang PeiMin asked her to sit down and explain slowly.

After a pause, Qiao Ying continued, "The makeup you did for Wen Qing this morning became the talk of the town. They said it was like magic, that with just a few touches to her face you transformed her into a completely different person. That even her ordinary Jiangnan features could be made to resemble the distinctive looks of a Xinjiang girl. The whole Cultural Troupe is buzzing about it."

"They say Wen Qing has really struck it lucky, getting such a skilled person to help her. If the performance goes well, she’ll be up for promotion—though most of that is just sour grapes. As the rumor spread, it dug up the story from two years ago. It got very detailed, saying your husband had a relationship with her, that they were even talking marriage. No one knows why they didn’t end up getting married, and then Wen Qing left."

"That was just the version from noon. By evening, the story had evolved with a lot of sequels. It said that the battalion commander later took a fancy to you instead and abandoned Wen Qing. They’re saying you’re helping Wen Qing now because you feel guilty about what happened before."