Chapter 194: This is Too Ridiculous

Chapter 194: Chapter 194: This is Too Ridiculous

As soon as Li Hanchen entered the bedroom, Song Yao leaped off the bed and rushed out.

Her bare feet padded on the floor, her hair still a bit messy.

"Who was that?"

"They didn’t say."

"The husband of the woman next door?"

"Mhm."

"I think those two might be a little smitten."

Song Yao muttered under her breath, unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes.

"The woman smiles with every word, the man nods at every sentence. They’re practically breathing in sync."

Li Hanchen didn’t quite understand what "smitten" meant and frowned slightly.

"When I’m gone, if they knock, don’t say a word, and definitely don’t open the door. If you hear a knock, check the peephole first. If you can’t get a clear look, don’t do anything. Just wait for me to get back."

"Oh, I know, I know!"

Song Yao nodded repeatedly, tapping her heels lightly on the floor twice.

"Don’t worry, I’m sharp!"

Li Hanchen was amused by her playful confidence and gently ruffled her hair.

"Alright, my clever little rascal."

Song Yao immediately snuggled closer, wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, and looked up with a grin. "Whose clever little rascal am I?"

"Mine."

Song Yao stood on her tiptoes and gave him two loud, sweet kisses.

「The next morning.」

Li Hanchen went to his unit for roll call, and Song Yao set off for the administrative department.

By the time she walked out of the military family housing compound’s main gate, it was almost eight o’clock.

Just as Song Yao came downstairs, she saw a few people gathered around a small cart, chatting.

One of them, a woman with a round face, spotted her and immediately waved with a cheerful smile.

"Hey, you’re new?"

They were neighbors, after all, and bound to run into each other. Since the woman had greeted her first, Song Yao quickly returned a smile.

"Yes, we just moved in yesterday."

The round-faced woman asked again.

"You live upstairs in this building?"

Song Yao nodded, hiking her bag up on her shoulder.

The three other military family members beside her all turned to look, their eyes sizing her up, full of questions.

Song Yao couldn’t help but wonder.

’Is there something written on my face?’

’Why are they staring at me like that?’

The round-faced woman was the most eager. She pointed a finger toward Song Yao’s apartment window.

"You live in that one, right?"

Song Yao nodded again.

She couldn’t hold back.

"Is there... something special about this apartment?"

The round-faced woman glanced around.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, she immediately lowered her voice and leaned in closer.

"Now, don’t you go spreading this around and saying it came from me!"

Song Yao nodded emphatically.

"I won’t say a word!"

Only then did the woman breathe a sigh of relief.

"It’s not a huge deal, really. It’s just that someone had their eye on this apartment for a long time."

The other two women immediately chimed in.

"Right, right! It was He Wei, your next-door neighbor! She’d been wanting it for ages. A couple of days ago, she saw you moving in at the compound gate. She stared at that door for the longest time, with such a pointed look on her face. Anyone could tell something was up."

The shorter woman added,

"For this, she went to the leadership three or four times, kept saying she had too many kids and not enough space, and insisting on switching to this apartment! One time she went holding her youngest, the kid cried until his voice was hoarse, and she just stood outside the leader’s office, refusing to leave without a definite answer."

The woman with short hair interjected.

"The leadership wouldn’t agree. They said housing is assigned by the rules, and it goes to whoever’s turn it is. The apartments are all the same size, and the order is clearly laid out. They even spread the roster out on the table and showed it to He Wei three times."

"She was frantic, but the leadership never budged. Once, she squatted behind the residential building for half an hour just to wait for the leader to get off work. But he ended up taking a detour past the clinic to go home, and she waited for nothing."

Song Yao finally understood. So that sullen-faced woman’s name was He Wei.

No wonder her face had fallen the moment she heard where they lived.

The woman’s lips had tightened, her eyes narrowed, and she’d turned and walked right back into her own apartment.

And her husband had made a special trip to their door that night.

’So that’s what this was all about!’

’But the real question is... why come to us instead of the leadership?’

’Does he really think changing neighbors will get him the apartment?’

This is just ridiculous, Song Yao thought.

’Could it be that he thinks we’re a young couple who are easy to talk to, easy to persuade?’

’Or maybe he thinks that since we’re new, we don’t know the rules and can be easily swayed?’

But on second thought, he hadn’t actually mentioned any of it.

Song Yao smiled faintly, nodded at the three women, and spoke in a calm tone.

"To be honest with you, my husband and I were transferred from Ning City. The military assigned us this apartment, so we just moved in. We really don’t know about anything else. The housing list is posted outside the leadership’s office, but we didn’t even get a chance to look at it. We were too busy unpacking and getting settled."

"I have to get to my unit now, so I can’t stay and chat!"

The three women waved their hands, telling her to go on ahead.

The woman in the blue shirt even helped close the building door for her.

The moment she was out of earshot, the three of them immediately huddled together and started whispering.

"From Ning City?"

"Isn’t that in the south?"

"Sounds like it."

"Didn’t she just say she was going to work?"

"She’s only been here a few days and she’s already set up with a job?"

"What kind of work is it?"

The other two shook their heads.

"No idea."

The woman in the blue shirt guessed.

"It’s probably one of the jobs for family members. She likely went to school, knows how to read and do math. I heard Zhang say the records office is short-staffed. Last month they were asking if anyone knew how to type."

The eyes of the woman wearing a floral headscarf lit up.

"A job with such flexible hours is perfect for raising kids and earning money. Once the kids turn three, you can send them to the Red Nursery class—drop them off in the morning, pick them up after work. It’s a solid setup! Even the daycare fees are half what they charge outside."

"Isn’t that the truth!"

The three of them stared in unison at the building entrance where Song Yao had long since disappeared.

Song Yao was completely unaware of all this.

She got on the bus, went straight to the administrative department, found Director He, and started working that very day.

After all the paperwork was done, Director He assigned her to organize old files in the records room on the spot.

He also told her to come to his office and ask anytime she was unsure about something.

So, every day she finished work around four o’clock and took the bus back to the family housing compound.

When she got home, she had a bag of apples and oranges in one hand, bok choy and tofu in the other, and had also picked up a bag full of pork ribs.

With money in her pocket and no one to answer to about her spending, she shopped with great satisfaction.

Her wages were calculated daily and paid out weekly, in cash, directly into her hand.

She managed her own finances, never having to report to anyone what she bought or how much she spent.

Just as she reached her building, as luck would have it, the same three women were there with their kids, enjoying the cool air.

The moment she saw her, the woman with short hair called out.

"Getting off work?"

She was fanning herself with a cattail fan, an enamel mug resting on a small stool by her feet.

Inside the mug was chilled mung bean soup, with a few mint leaves floating on top.

Song Yao smiled and replied.

"Mhm, just got back."

Seeing that each woman was holding a child, she casually peeled a banana, broke off a small piece, and offered it to the youngest baby nearby.

The child was about nine months old, sitting on the round-faced woman’s lap. He was dressed in a little blue shirt, his hair tied with a red string, and he was kicking his little legs.

When he saw the banana, he immediately grinned and reached for it.

The three women’s smiles instantly became much warmer.

"So where do you work? How do you get to finish at three or four in the afternoon?"

the round-faced woman asked.

She hoisted the child up a bit on her lap and wiped the drool from his chin with a towel.