"Sister-in-law, do you know what's going on?"
Li Erhong came out of her house and happened to see Tang Qiyue staring out at the sea, so she ran over to chat with her.
Tang Qiyue had no idea what was happening and could only shake her head.
"Do you want to go take a look?"
Li Erhong was genuinely curious. Unlike Xu Qiuju, she was young and had only been married to Chen Dazhuang for a few years, enjoying a happy marriage.
Tang Qiyue was a little tempted.
But before she could answer, someone nearby explained:
"It's the fishermen's boats returning from the sea. They must have had a good catch!"
The speaker was a young woman wearing a white coat. Tang Qiyue didn't recognize her, but Li Erhong greeted her enthusiastically.
"Dr. Qin, aren't you busy today?"
Dr. Qin carried a medicine bag and walked up to them.
"Hello, sisters-in-law. I'm here on behalf of the clinic to distribute mosquito-repellent sachets."
Tang Qiyue looked at the two sachets Dr. Qin handed her. She accepted them politely and thanked her.
Li Erhong was even more enthusiastic than Tang Qiyue.
"Dr. Qin is so thoughtful! I was almost eaten alive by mosquitoes last night. Dazhuang even told me to ask you if you had any mosquito repellent!"
Dr. Qin turned to Li Erhong and explained:
"When the troops first arrived on the island, they noticed the mosquito problem. We tried several herbal repellents back then, but they weren't very effective. This recipe came from the local villagers, and since it worked well, we decided to distribute it to everyone."
Li Erhong thanked her repeatedly, thinking Dr. Qin was very considerate.
Tang Qiyue also expressed her gratitude.
Dr. Qin didn't stay long. She still had to distribute sachets to other families. Before leaving, she reminded them:
"When the fishermen return from the sea, it's a time of celebration for the locals. It's best not to go over there to avoid misunderstandings."
After Dr. Qin left, Tang Qiyue asked Li Erhong:
"This Dr. Qin doesn't look very old. How can she already be a military doctor?"
Most doctors in the army were men, so Tang Qiyue found it a bit surprising.
Of course, she was also curious because Zheng Hongjuan had mentioned Dr. Qin before.
Li Erhong actually knew a little. She leaned closer and whispered:
"Dr. Qin's grandfather is a famous traditional Chinese medicine doctor. He donated a prescription for treating injuries, and I heard it's very effective. Dr. Qin has been studying Chinese medicine with him since she was a child. If it weren't for… well… she should be working at the veterans' sanatorium."
Li Erhong spoke quickly but suddenly realized she had almost revealed something she shouldn't have. She hurriedly stopped herself.
Tang Qiyue sensed something strange, but she wasn't the type to pry, so she didn't ask further.
Perhaps feeling embarrassed, Li Erhong waved the herbal sachet in her hand.
"Sister-in-law, I'm going back to hang this in the house so I won't get bitten by mosquitoes again tonight!"
With that, Li Erhong ran off.
Tang Qiyue looked at the sachet in her hand. Although she didn't know much about pharmacology, she could recognize the smell of several familiar herbs.
Not wanting to appear ungrateful, she hung the sachet on the door so it would be visible when entering the house.
After arranging the sachet, Tang Qiyue stopped thinking about it and instead became interested in the fishing boats.
If the fishermen had gone out to sea, they must have caught plenty of deep-sea fish.
Good stuff!
Even though Tang Qiyue wanted some, it wouldn't be appropriate to go asking right now.
Besides, she looked around the empty house. There was almost nothing inside. First, she needed to solve the problem of daily necessities.
Tang Qiyue lay on the bed, took out paper and a pen, and began writing down everything she needed to buy so she could purchase them the next time she went off the island.
She was so focused on writing that she didn't notice Zhan Zeyi returning.
When Zhan Zeyi came back carrying water, he didn't see Tang Qiyue in the yard. Entering the house, he saw her lying on the bed, biting the end of her pen while scribbling on paper.
He leaned over to look.
"There really is a lot missing."
Tang Qiyue had already noticed him but didn't look up.
Hearing him speak, she put down her pen and nodded.
"Of course there is. Look around—what do we actually have?"
She gestured around the room.
If it weren't for the pile of items from her dowry, she might have had to sleep on the floor.
Zhan Zeyi felt a little guilty and quickly changed the subject.
"I ran into Uncle just now. He said the fishermen's boats came back, and he already took people to buy seafood. Tomorrow he'll let you go over to see if there's anything you like. You can order whatever you want."
This special treatment was reserved only for Tang Qiyue.
The reason was simple.
Political Commissar Wu had dragged the wild boar to the canteen earlier, causing quite a commotion.
He didn't say Tang Qiyue had killed it, nor did he claim credit for it himself. Instead, he simply explained how the wild boar had appeared.
The one-eyed uncle already knew there were wild boars on the island. Since the fishermen also lived nearby, he had assumed they had deliberately kept the animals there and didn't pay much attention.
Now that a wild boar had wandered into the army's area and almost injured someone, it had to be dealt with.
What surprised the one-eyed uncle was that Tang Qiyue had killed it.
When Political Commissar Wu first told him, he didn't believe it.
Later, he even asked Zhan Zeyi personally. After receiving confirmation, the one-eyed uncle clicked his tongue and patted Zhan Zeyi on the shoulder.
"What kind of good deeds did you do in your past life to marry such a wonderful wife?"
Not only was she beautiful, but she wasn't just a pretty face.
She could casually talk about cooking recipes—and she could even kick a wild boar to death.
On the battlefield, countless people would fight over someone like her.
Zhan Zeyi, who already had thick skin, became even more proud.
"Don't you know who I am?"
The one-eyed uncle couldn't stand his smug expression. Too lazy to argue, he simply told Zhan Zeyi to bring Tang Qiyue to the canteen tomorrow so she could order whatever she wanted to eat.
He would personally cook for her.
Tang Qiyue, of course, knew nothing about these conversations.
She was only excited about eating deep-sea fish and wondered whether they might have the kind she liked best.
Since she still needed to wash clothes, Tang Qiyue handed Zhan Zeyi the list she had written so he could check what was missing.
But when she went outside, she ran into a problem.
Her dowry contained many things—but no soap.
Fortunately, Zhan Zeyi had been paying attention to her.
Seeing her frowning at the dirty clothes, he asked what was wrong and quickly learned she didn't have any soap.
"We receive one bar of soap each month. Mine is still in the dormitory. I'll go get it."
Zhan Zeyi immediately ran off.
Meanwhile, Tang Qiyue couldn't help missing the advanced cleaning tools from the post-apocalyptic world.
After getting used to high-tech conveniences, returning to such a simple lifestyle required some adjustment.
Just as she squatted down to soak the dirty clothes in the basin, someone suddenly rushed over, grabbed her arm, and dragged her outside.