---
In those days, without a proof of employment from her unit, Zhang Shanni found it quite difficult to arrange personal family visits, especially across provincial borders. Moreover, her previous application had been rejected. All in all, it took her a considerable amount of time to prepare the necessary travel documentation for the visit.
Busy with these affairs from late November until early December,
as the weather turned cold and the mountain vegetation turned yellow and withered, the temperature had already dropped to seven or eight degrees Celsius, Zhang Shanni thoroughly explored the Qingshan Mountain Range for nearly half a month’s winter food reserves.
The amount of game she hunted and stored was astonishing.
Zhang Shanni was also very good at social relations. Considering she would not be home for the New Year since marrying into the Xie Family, she asked her in-laws for consent in advance and then presented each elder in the Xie Family with meat gifts, along with six pieces of festive rice cakes she made herself, as a sign of her husband’s filial piety.
Once a Xie Family man got married, he had to present New Year’s gifts to family members over the age of sixty-six every year during the festival season.
Zhang Shanni thought this was a good practice. Caring for the elderly is essential,
and it was important not to tarnish the reputation of her own husband. That was the main point.
The mindset of men in this era was easy to understand. As long as a wife was devoted to her husband and protected his male dignity, the man rarely betrayed his wife.
It wasn’t like modern times, with too many temptations and ambitions that would lead to a loss of moral compass.
The affection between two people can only appear sincere when it is mutual. If it’s only one-sided, be it only you or the other person, it may not be noticeable in the short term, but over a long time, the mentality will become biased and resentful.
No matter how much love there was at the start, it couldn’t withstand the erosion of time.
Although Zhang Shanni didn’t quite believe in the notion of love, she had quite a bit of ’theoretical’ knowledge on how a couple should get along, thanks to her close friends in her previous life who married early.
However, their marriages were at two extremes; one was sweet and lovey-dovey every day, while the other was so bleak it made one lose faith in love.
Moreover, both friends liked confiding in her, someone who married late, which left her yearning for marriage yet also filled with fear...
To prepare for her departure, Zhang Shanni not only secured her family’s meat supply in advance but also got ready to take some to the military.
Xie Jingchen had been in the military for nearly two months and had only sent back two letters.
One was purely a letter of reassurance; the other was to inform the family beforehand that he had a mission and wouldn’t be able to send letters home for a while.
He also mentioned that their marriage report had been approved, and even a house had been allocated.
This was thanks to the kind intention of Mr. Liu. He had personally called the unit out of concern for his former subordinate’s housing arrangement.
As a result, Xie Jingchen was able to secure a new house before leaving the military.
At that time, however, he had already received his orders and was about to depart, leaving the housing arrangements to be managed by the military.
This letter arrived just when his little aunt happened to be home from school.
Therefore, everyone in the Xie Family at home knew that Xie Jingchen was out on a mission, which was the reason for the family’s concern.
After dealing with the travel documentation, Zhang Shanni also had to book train tickets. To get a good sleeper berth was wishful thinking; securing a hard seat was already fortunate.
Even for that, Xie Tiesheng had spent three days arranging.
During these three days, Zhang Shanni was busy preparing special local products to bring to her husband and also her clothing. Considering the weather had already cooled down here, it would be even harsher in County X.
Zhang Shanni naturally thought of going to the military. These past days, whenever she had some free time, she’d visit Elder Liu to make her presence felt, meanwhile nourishing his health, and privately administering some medicine tailored to his illness.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Transmigration: I Have Storage Space in the Apocalypse