Daily Life in the 70s-Chapter 192: Wait for - : Friendship

Yang PeiMin gave her a sidelong glance; she decided to just listen to the remarks without taking them to heart.

Qiao Ying also glanced at her out of the corner of her eye and asked, "You don’t believe it?"

"Sigh, I originally thought about buying a couple more sets to give away, but my wallet held me back. After some thought, I decided against it. We’re still in contact anyway; I can get in touch with you whenever I have the money," she said, even winking at her at the end.

Yang PeiMin couldn’t help but laugh silently, saying, "Qiao Ying, thank you."

Both knew precisely what to be thankful for.

Qiao Ying was well aware of the situation with her cosmetics; she knew exactly what was going on. It was all done by Yang PeiMin herself.

As for Yang PeiMin, she was grateful that Qiao Ying helped cover for her, trusted her unconditionally, supported her, and even promoted her products.

The three of them later arrived at a noodle shop, ordered specialty dishes from the menu, and ate their fill with great pleasure before eventually holding their bellies and walking out.

Upon returning to town, they stopped by the porcelain shop to pick up the batch of porcelain.

Due to limited time, Yang PeiMin had kept the design of the porcelain as simple as possible, not spending much effort. The white boxes bore a red plum blossom, which looked somewhat crude but compared to wooden boxes and leftover metal skincare containers, Yang PeiMin was quite satisfied with it, even finding this simplicity appealing in its own right.

Holding it in her hand, Qiao Ying nodded and teased, "Not bad, at least there’s proper packaging."

Yang PeiMin smiled and nodded: "As long as you don’t dislike it, it’s fine."

Looking at her, Qiao Ying asked, "Do you need my help?"

Yang PeiMin immediately responded, "I couldn’t ask for more."

Qiao Ying’s eyes lit up, eager and rubbing her hands together—it seemed this idea had been in her mind for quite some time.

When they reached the entrance of the military region, Qiao Ying urged Yang PeiMin to hurry and get out of the car, "It would be best if we can get everything ready before tonight, or I’ll be attacked by the team members."

Yang PeiMin gave her a look and said, "Look here, as a battalion commander, shouldn’t you be calm and composed in the face of danger? What’s the rush?"

After spending more time with Qiao Ying, Yang PeiMin realized she wasn’t as stern and imposing as she appeared; beneath that formidable exterior was just a fun-loving girl who enjoyed looking good.

Xiao Xu held back a laugh, came over to open the car door for them, and said, "Take your time, ladies."

He even offered to carry their things back to their dormitories, but Yang PeiMin and Qiao Ying felt the distance wasn’t far and they didn’t have much to carry, so they declined his help as he had other tasks to attend to.

Taking their belongings from Xiao Xu, they walked towards the compound, chatting and laughing.

Then they ran into Wen Qing and Du Juanjuan, who seemed just about to leave the house. Wen Qing glanced at Xiao Xu following behind them, her expression flickering, and her cousin already spoke, "Isn’t that the servant under Shen Ying? What’s going on? Did he go out on a task with you two?"

Du Juanjuan had seen them coming out of Xiao Xu’s car, and she shifted her gaze slightly.

Xiao Xu saluted him, saying, "Yes."

Du Juanjuan haughtily lifted her chin, nodded, and said dismissively, "Well then, Mr. Wen from the Cultural Troupe and I were just about to leave; you can give us a ride."

Xiao Xu was caught off-guard by her request, and apologetically said, "Sorry, sister-in-law, there are regulations in the army that without a leader’s directive, vehicles can’t just be taken out."

Du Juanjuan’s eyes widened in displeasure, feeling embarrassed in front of Yang PeiMin, and pointed at them, "Then why can they?"

Qiao Ying frowned at his difficulty, "Mr. Du, please don’t make things hard for Xiao Xu; he is just following the rules."

Du Juanjuan glanced at her lightly, "Mr. Qiao, I just don’t understand why you can, but we can’t? Our husbands are battalion commanders too."

Qiao Ying’s frown deepened, "I think Mr. Du should ask Camp Commander Shao about this; he’ll explain it to you clearly." After saying that, she turned to Xiao Xu, "You can go on with your duties now, Xiao Xu."

Xiao Xu hurriedly left to escape the fraught situation.

Wen Qing watched as Xiao Xu walked away, her expression unreadable; she turned to ask Qiao Ying, "We know that military vehicles can’t just be used for anything unless it’s something important. I wonder where Sister Ying and Pei Min have returned from?"

In fact, everyone knew the rule, but due to different positions in the army, everyone had different entitlements. As long as the leaders with the authority over the vehicles didn’t mind, others would turn a blind eye.

However, Wen Qing’s direct implication was that neither Shen Yiguang nor Qiao Ying had that authority—unless they were on an official task, it was hard to justify.

Wen Qing, having not yet been promoted after her performance, shouldn’t have been so quick to offend Qiao Ying, given that even as vice battalion commander, she had voting rights. But seeing Yang PeiMin chatting and laughing as they stepped down from the jeep, she couldn’t help but speak out.

Wen Qing immediately regretted her words.

As expected, Qiao Ying calmly glanced at her, "There were a few things," she said simply, without providing further details. After the last incident with the makeup, Qiao Ying began to see that this friend, who maintained friendly contacts, wasn’t as gentle and charming as she appeared on the outside but was actually quite shrewd due to some past incidents that added up to her conclusions.

Qiao Ying’s distant attitude was evident to any observant person.

Wen Qing hastily smiled and said, "Sister Ying, I didn’t mean that. Even if there were matters, they were happy ones. I just don’t express myself well."

Du Juanjuan glanced at her cousin, who was more considerate and kind-hearted than her, and took a brief look at the shopping bags in Qiao Ying and Yang PeiMin’s hands, "You didn’t go end up shopping, did you?"

Wen Jing discreetly pulled at her, and Du Juanjuan remained noncommittal, thinking to herself that her cousin was just too kind-hearted.

Qiao Ying simply nodded, "We have other matters to attend to and will be leaving now."

Seeing them about to depart, Du Juanjuan felt a surge of resentment, particularly when she observed Yang PeiMin’s indifferent demeanor, who didn’t even glance her way. Her irritation increased when she noticed the eye-catching paper bags, and through the gaps, she could see an English-labeled wrapping paper inside. She felt uneasy—how could a simple country woman need such good things? She looked like someone groveling at Qiao Ying’s feet, begging like a beggar.