Chapter 6: Then how about I set you up on a date?

Part of the reason was the era, and another part was the sudden changes that had occurred in her family.

Lu Changzheng pursed his lips and said nothing.

Leaving the guesthouse and walking toward the family quarters, the road beneath their feet was somewhat uneven.

They encountered some family members along the way. Seeing Lu Changzheng bringing Jiang Tang along, they all looked them over with curiosity.

The military district here was quite large. Lu Changzheng was somewhat well-known in the troops, but in the family quarters, not everyone was familiar with him.

After all, he had almost never set foot in the family quarters.

At this moment, the arrival of a handsome man and a beautiful woman naturally attracted attention.

Seeing the others staring so much, Lu Changzheng worried that Jiang Tang might feel uncomfortable. He lowered his eyes to look at her, only to find her expression calm and filled with curiosity, without a shred of shyness.

He didn't know if she didn't understand shyness, or if she simply felt there was no need for it.

Lu Changzheng brought her to the outside of the courtyard that had just been approved yesterday. Next door was the home of a political commissar from a neighboring regiment.

The commissar’s wife was a teacher at the military district primary school and was a very kind person.

This was also the reason why Lu Changzheng chose this location.

He opened the courtyard gate and led Jiang Tang inside.

"Is this where I will be living from now on?"

Jiang Tang looked around the courtyard. Although it was a house with mud walls, it was much better than where she had lived in the mountains before.

Moreover, the house directly facing the gate had three bays. Upon walking in, she saw that in addition to the main room in the center, there were two rooms on each side.

On the left side of the courtyard was a smaller building, which served as the kitchen and a storage room.

There was also a room on the right side, though Jiang Tang didn't understand what it was for.

Lu Changzheng explained, "In the early years, transportation in the family quarters was inconvenient, so the family members who came to join the military had to farm their own land, raise their own chickens and ducks, and keep pigs."

Jiang Tang touched this and that, nodding continuously. Even this courtyard, which lacked everything, was something she liked very much.

"Is this my home from now on?"

Lu Changzheng gave a soft "Mn." "It’s not tidied up yet. Once I finish work, I’ll come over to help you clean it up, and then you can move in."

"I’ll clean it up myself."

Jiang Tang volunteered. Although she had never done it before, she could learn.

She had memories of doing chores in her mind.

Lu Changzheng looked at her with some doubt, but upon thinking of what she had been through, he nodded.

"Clean up what you can. For the things you can't do, just wait for me to come back."

Lu Changzheng gave instructions, sounding like a husband leaving for work and giving orders to his wife at home.

He was startled by himself.

Jiang Tang, however, didn't notice.

She nodded repeatedly, her eyes darting around as she explored the surroundings, thinking about how to tidy up her future home.

Seeing her eager and ready to work, a smile appeared on Lu Changzheng's face.

"I'll go say a word to the comrades in the logistics department in a while. They will come to find you; just tell them whatever you need."

"Okay."

Jiang Tang was extremely well-behaved. When she answered Lu Changzheng, her eyes were bright and very focused.

It seemed as if there was room for only him in her eyes.

This caused a voice to suddenly pop up in Lu Changzheng's heart: 'Are you really willing to hand over a girl like this to someone else?'

He shook off the bizarre thought in his mind. Looking at the young woman who was inspecting this room and that room, and who, instead of being disgusted by the mud walls and tiled roof, was actually full of enthusiasm, he couldn't help but smile.

Not long after Lu Changzheng left, a comrade from the logistics department arrived. The man asked Jiang Tang what supplies she needed prepared.

Jiang Tang had no experience in tidying up a house, but she had seen pictures of small farm courtyards in storybooks before, and there were some faint shadows remaining in the original owner's mind. She beckoned for Xiao Lin from the logistics department to come over.

"Is there anything that can keep the mud on the walls from falling off? That white stuff, do you have it?"

"Sister-in-law, are you talking about lime?"

"Lime?"

Jiang Tang frowned, her little brain spinning rapidly, and she nodded.

"Can you get some?"

"I can."

Although the walls of this house were mostly made of adobe, there were also stones and straw inside.

The wall inside the room had been polished quite smoothly, so brushing lime onto it shouldn't be a problem.

Xiao Lin from the logistics department asked Jiang Tang what else she needed so he could send it all at once.

"Whatever the logistics warehouse has, I'll send it over. If we don't have it, I'll make a note for you, Sister-in-law, and send it as soon as it arrives."

Jiang Tang was very happy.

"You really are a good person. Thank you."

She had nothing to give Xiao Lin. Jiang Tang looked up at the distant mountains and decided to go into the mountains to take a look once the house was finished.

She had planned everything well, but the task of fixing up the house exceeded her expectations.

By the time Lu Changzheng returned from the troops after work, she had barely finished whitewashing the entire house.

Seeing Lu Changzheng appear in the courtyard, Jiang Tang, wearing a hat folded from newspaper, waved at him with a big brush in her hand and smiled. "Lu Changzheng, you're here!"

As she spoke, she jumped down from the makeshift scaffolding. The action startled Lu Changzheng, his heart leaping into his throat.

"Slow down, be careful."

From a height of over a meter, Jiang Tang landed steadily on the ground after jumping down and ran toward Lu Changzheng.

She stood beside him, hands on her hips, looking at the brand-new house. With her face stained with some lime, she smiled sweetly, waiting for praise.

"How is it? Am I very capable?"

Lu Changzheng nodded, affirming her contribution. "Did you brush all of this yourself?"

The main house had three bays, with two rooms on each side, totaling five rooms. Each room had four walls—twenty walls in total. She had finished brushing them all by herself in one day...

"Yes! I asked Comrade Xiao Lin to teach me a little, and then I knew how to do it."

She didn't notice Lu Changzheng's expression as she spoke happily on the side.

"That Xiao Lin is also a good person. I didn't know how to do it at first, but he didn't call me stupid."

"I wonder if he's married?"

If Xiao Lin wasn't married, Jiang Tang quite liked such a refined person.

Besides, he had a very nice smile.

Jiang Tang's words brought the distracted Lu Changzheng back to reality. He looked down at the girl with clear eyes, devoid of any impure thoughts, and knew this was his own problem.

It was he who had said he had no interest in romance...

"That, Jiang Tang..."

"Lu Changzheng, I discovered today while brushing the walls that some of the tiles on the roof are broken. Can I replace the roof?"

"Not the whole thing, I'll just relay the tiles."

She gestured with her hands to explain.

Lu Changzheng was puzzled. "Have you ever laid tiles before?"

Was Jiang Dawu really such a piece of trash? He actually let Jiang Tang do something like laying tiles?

"No, but I can learn! Just like this lime brushing, it was my first time doing it too."

After she finished speaking, she tugged on Lu Changzheng's arm and led him into the house to take a look. "Look, how is it?"

Lu Changzheng looked at the smooth and tidy walls in front of him, and he couldn't help but wonder: could someone doing it for the first time really do it this well?