The Stunningly Beautiful and Delicate Darling in the 1980s Military Compound - Chapter 99

Children at play often lack a sense of caution. Song Mingyue never imagined that while simply walking along the side of the road, she would be nearly struck by one. In her condition—heavily pregnant—the sight of a bicycle hurtling toward her was already enough to rattle her, especially since the bike was wobbling and she had no clear path to dodge it.

Just as she resigned herself to the inevitable, someone stepped in front of her, grabbing the handlebars of the bicycle with one hand. The man said sternly to the young boy riding it, “Little one, didn’t you see someone walking here? What would you have done if you hit someone riding that fast?”

The child was stunned and began to wail, crying incoherently. It seemed his brakes had failed and he had lost control. Song Mingyue, not wanting to be harsh with a child, simply advised him to be more careful in the future so as not to cause a serious accident. After the boy ran off crying, she turned to the man who had rescued her and felt a strange sense of familiarity.

Before she could place him, the man spoke with even more excitement: “Song Mingyue, it’s me, Cheng Er!”

She remembered—it was the young man she had met on the way to find Zhao Xing. Upon seeing her again, Cheng Er was thrilled, but when his eyes landed on her swollen belly, his excited smile faltered into an awkward expression. He wasn’t entirely surprised; Song Mingyue had told him previously that she was married, so children were a natural consequence.

Cheng Er asked, “Why are you here?”

Song Mingyue thanked him for his help and replied with a smile, “I live nearby now. Thank you for today; let me treat you to a meal.”

Cheng Er was surprised. “You don’t live in the family courtyard anymore? How did you move here? My family lives in this neighborhood, too.”

As they talked, they realized that Cheng Er’s home was only a few doors down from Song Mingyue’s new house, and Wang Yufen even got along well with Cheng Er’s grandmother. Cheng Er had learned from his grandmother that Song Mingyue had opened a women’s clothing store in the city that was thriving. He had been away studying and hadn’t even returned for the New Year, causing him to miss her perfectly.

Now that he was back, he would often come to find Song Mingyue to hang out when he wasn’t studying. Although the woman was already married and he was a step too late, his heart still stirred whenever he saw her. She was too dazzling—beautiful and perfect. With Chen Che absent, Cheng Er frequently tried to curry favor with her. Song Mingyue had made it clear to him several times that they were just friends, and she wasn’t so narcissistic as to think he was relentlessly pursuing her. She viewed him as nothing more than a kid and didn’t give it much thought.

Since Chen Che had left, the two had been keeping in touch via letters. His unit had strict management, making correspondence difficult, but Chen Che maintained a rhythm of at least one letter per month.

Recently, Song Mingyue had been wanting to buy a refrigerator. In the early 80s, fridges were high-end appliances, and quality varied wildly. While she had initially intended to just buy one in Mo City, she mentioned it to Yin Xiumei while chatting with Wang Yufen.

Yin Xiumei immediately volunteered, saying her brother in the capital knew people who sold Japanese refrigerators. He had previously offered to set one up for her, and now that Song Mingyue was interested, Yin Xiumei was tempted to have her brother ship one over from Beijing for them to share the shipping costs. It wasn’t that Song Mingyue worshiped foreign goods, but at the time, Japanese appliances were undeniably better in quality. She didn’t hesitate to ask Yin Xiumei to order one.

That day, Yin Xiumei said the fridge had arrived—the newest model, looking very impressive. It was currently at her home, and she was so eager to share the news that she couldn’t wait until her husband returned to help move it. Song Mingyue thought for a moment and said, “Your husband is getting older, and the fridge is quite heavy. Let me hire two people to help us move it back now.”

“That works,” Yin Xiumei said. “Don’t bother hiring anyone. There are plenty of strong young men doing chores in the courtyard; I’ll find someone for you when we get there.” She sighed with a hint of regret. “You know, if you had just stayed in the courtyard, it would have been so much easier.” She looked around the house and added, “Though this place is nice—it’s bigger than the courtyard and looks much cleaner.”

“It is. And it’s easier for work. Let’s go, Auntie, I’ll go with you.”

As they left, Cheng Er happened to be delivering fruit. Hearing they were moving a fridge, he offered to help. Song Mingyue was about to refuse, but Yin Xiumei accepted immediately. She had her own agenda—Cheng Er was talented and a college student; as the women’s association director, she was eager to play matchmaker for the girls in the courtyard, so she was happy to have him tag along.

It was an ordinary errand, but upon arriving at the courtyard, they coincidentally ran into Old Yu. Jingjing was at the shop, so Song Mingyue didn’t want to engage him. As they passed each other, a young man standing next to Old Yu whispered to him, “Battalion Commander Chen isn’t here. Do you know that this woman is very close to the man standing next to her?”

“What did you say?”

“Don’t get so excited; it’s not Zhang Jingjing. My wife told me—her family lives near them—everyone is saying Song Mingyue is capable of seducing a college student.”

Old Yu couldn’t sleep that night. He was furious that Song Mingyue had interfered in his marriage, and he felt like karmic retribution had arrived quickly. So, Song Mingyue is cheating on Chen Che, he thought. He had always known she was a flirtatious woman—it was she who had corrupted Zhang Jingjing. He grew angrier the more he thought about it and decided to write a letter to Chen Che.

Outsiders might not know where Chen Che was, but people in the military knew. Old Yu informed Chen Che that after he left, Song Mingyue moved out and started seeing a new man—a handsome college student she had known for a long time. He claimed the two were now inseparable. He didn’t believe Chen Che would be able to remain calm after reading that.

Not long after the letter was sent, in March, Song Mingyue opened a second store. The location was much better than the first, situated right in the city center. The owner of the storefront, upon learning it was Song Mingyue opening a branch, approached her personally.

“Mingyue, I won’t charge you rent. Instead, I’ll provide you with a renovation budget if I can buy a stake in your shop. How about that?”

The landlady had studied abroad, where the franchise model was already mature, while China’s privatization was just beginning. After observing Song Mingyue’s first store, she realized their concepts were far ahead of the times and wanted a piece of the success. Song Mingyue was relieved; expanding was a challenge, and having the landlady’s support was a boon. “That works. Welcome aboard. You can offer suggestions as we go.”

With the landlady’s backing, the new store’s opening was grand—far more extravagant than the television-gift promotion they had done previously. They didn’t hold back on the decor, sparing no expense. While many had tried to copy Song Mingyue’s business since the end of the previous year, they all lacked her competitive edge and modern style, leading to their failure. Seeing her launch a second successful store, many were filled with jealousy. How can someone so young, who isn’t even from Mo City, run a business so well? But since clothing stores were harder to sabotage than other types of businesses, they could only stew in their envy.

As the second branch gained popularity, Song Mingyue became the talk of Mo City. Mo City Daily even wanted to interview her, but she declined without hesitation. She didn’t care for the noise; her ambitions went far beyond these two shops. For now, she just needed to do her best.

However, she had a more pressing matter. With Zhang Jingjing and Pei Xiaoyu now capable of running the stores independently, Song Mingyue planned to set off to find Chen Che. Even though the “accident” from the story was still some time away, she was anxious and terrified every day. She felt she would be better off by his side.

When she told Wang Yufen, her mother was adamantly opposed. “You’re giving birth in a few months. Going there now is not only adding to his burden but is irresponsible to yourself!”

“Mom, I have to go.”

Wang Yufen asked, “Give me one reason why it’s absolutely necessary.”

Song Mingyue replied in a low, firm voice, “Before he left, I had a fortune-teller read Chen Che’s fate. The master said he is in danger there this year, so I must go to be with him.”

Wang Yufen hadn’t expected that reason. “You believe fortune-tellers? They’re just scammers!”

“Mom, what if it’s true? I can’t gamble on this.”

“Maybe there’s a master in Pingcheng who’s more accurate. Let’s write to your father and have him ask one. If there’s a disaster, maybe it can be averted.”

“No, the master told me that someone has to be by his side.”

Wang Yufen didn’t know if Song Mingyue was telling the truth, as she didn’t usually seem like the type to believe in such things. But she saw how determined her daughter was; she couldn’t stop her, and could only prepare for the arduous journey ahead.