The back gate of the family compound was rather narrow, but fortunately, the drivers of the transport team were all veterans with over ten years of driving experience.
Although it took a bit of time, they finally passed through without any real danger.
"Master, make a right turn up ahead. See that small building over there?"
"Yes, that one. Just park it by the side."
Following the direction pointed by He Ping, Jiang Si looked over, and what came into view was a brownish-red building, about one and a half stories high.
It really surprised her.
Jiang Si originally thought that the houses allocated in the family compound would mostly be in the style of the Soviet-style large panel buildings in the north.
After all, they were quick and cheap to build.
Unexpectedly, the house they got was a brick-and-wood mixed structure, and at first glance, it was a bit similar to the seaside vacation villas in later generations.
Jiang Si roughly counted that there were about thirty-odd such small buildings in the family compound.
The distance between the buildings was basically about twenty meters.
This was quite good, at least it ensured a certain degree of privacy.
As soon as the car stopped, He Ping climbed onto the roof. The driver had tied quite a lot of ropes this time, and it would probably take about half an hour just to untie them.
"Sister-in-law, the house has been completely cleaned. Why don't you go in and take a look first, and decide which room to put these furniture in. Then we'll just move them in directly."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work."
"Sister-in-law, what are you saying? This is what I should do." He Ping grinned.
After getting along for the past few days, Jiang Si had also gotten a good understanding of this guy's personality.
So she didn't say any more polite words. She just nodded and then turned to enter the house.
In her previous life, after graduating from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, she went abroad for further studies for a few years. After returning to China, she started her own business and established an architectural design company.
So after Huo Tingzhou told her about the layout and area of the house that day, she had already sketched out a floor plan in her mind.
As soon as she entered the front door, there was the living room. One could only say that self-built houses were great. Unlike the corridor-style apartments, the area was fixed.
By visual estimation, the living room was about 30 square meters.
Going deeper from the living room were the kitchen and the dining room. The dining room was 20 square meters, and the kitchen was a bit small, at most 8 to 9 square meters.
But she didn't cook much usually, so the size didn't really matter.
The bedrooms were on the right side of the living room. Both rooms faced the sun. One was 30 square meters, and the other was 25 square meters.
Right in front of the living room was the staircase leading to the attic.
There were only two rooms on the second floor, each about 15 square meters. There was also a relatively large terrace, which would be quite convenient for hanging out clothes or drying quilts in the future.
What delighted Jiang Si the most was that there was a small bathroom opposite the master bedroom.
There was a partition in the middle. The outside was for taking a shower, and going deeper was the toilet.
Of course, don't even think about a flush toilet. It was just an ordinary squatting toilet with a water tank on top.
After taking a tour around, Jiang Si was quite satisfied. If nothing unexpected happened, she would be living in this building for many years to come.
At this time, Huo Tingzhou also came back.
He was accompanied by two men and two women.
Seeing Jiang Si walking out of the house, Huo Tingzhou introduced them to her.
The one with a square face in military uniform was Lei Dexing, the deputy commander of the radar regiment. Beside him, the one in a red dress was his wife, Xu Mingjuan.
Sister-in-law Xu currently worked in the military district's logistics department.
The remaining one was Xiao Zhengjun, the commander of the Second Flight Regiment, and his wife was named Hu Meili.
Sister-in-law Hu was originally a dancer in the art troupe. Later, due to an injury, she retired from the troupe and was arranged to work in the military service store of the army. She was just promoted to the deputy director some time ago.
Jiang Si wasn't shy either. After Huo Tingzhou finished speaking, she introduced herself gracefully.
In fact, as soon as Jiang Si came out, Xu Mingjuan and Hu Meili couldn't take their eyes off her.
Especially Hu Meili. She used to be in the art troupe, and she had seen all kinds of beautiful women. But Jiang Si's appearance still shattered her perception of beauty.
Actually, she wasn't ugly either. It was just that after retiring, she had less exercise, and now she was a lot rounder than before.
Well, after the men started moving the furniture, Hu Meili said with a smile.
"Come on, let's go to my place first. Leave these jobs to the men."
"Us women, we should be lazy when we should and enjoy the blessings when we can!"
Hearing this, Xu Mingjuan also laughed.
"You told me the same thing back then. Fortunately, I listened to your advice. Otherwise, I wouldn't be living such a good life now."
"That's right. This is the experience I've summed up over the years."
After hearing their conversation, Jiang Si felt like she had found kindred spirits, and her eyes lit up.
She was sure that they were of the same kind!
However, it wouldn't be appropriate for Jiang Si to visit someone's house for the first time empty-handed.
Especially after learning that before Huo Tingzhou went to the provincial capital this time, he had emptied the bills of Commander Xiao and Deputy Commander Lei, she felt even more embarrassed.
"Sister-in-law, please wait a moment."
Jiang Si went back to the car and got two boxes of Snowflake Cream, a popular skin cream for women in Shanghai, and stuffed one box for each of them.
"Sister-in-law, this is the first time we've met. Here's some vanishing cream for you. Please don't decline it."
Hu Meili had a straightforward personality and loved beauty, so naturally she wouldn't decline.
There was also vanishing cream in the military service club, but they were all local brands. The fragrance and moisturizing effect were far inferior to those from Shanghai.
"Sister Si, then I won't stand on ceremony!"
"Come to me if you're short of anything later. I'll save it for you."
"Except for big-ticket items, the supplies in our service club are quite sufficient."
Xu Mingjuan quickly followed up, "Then I won't be polite either. If you need any help when you first come to the military camp, just speak up. Don't be shy."
"Your husband, my husband Lei, and Colonel Xiao, although they're not real brothers, are as close as brothers."
Jiang Si nodded with a smile, "Don't worry, sister-in-laws. If I need your help later, I promise I won't be polite."
"That's good. Come on, it's so sunny today. Let's go back inside quickly."
"I'm not fair-skinned to begin with. If I get sunburnt any more, I'll turn into a dried soy sauce stick!"
As Hu Meili said, she pushed open the courtyard gate and beckoned the two of them to come in quickly.
"The fruits on the table have been washed. Help yourselves. Don't be polite."
One good thing about Qiongzhou Island was that there were plenty of fruits and seafood all year round.
Then Hu Meili went to the kitchen and brought out three bowls of something that was QQ elastic and looked a bit like jelly.
She also opened a coconut, poured some coconut milk into it, and finally drizzled a layer of brown sugar water on top.
"Sister Si, try this quickly."
Afraid that Jiang Si didn't know what it was, she specifically explained.
"This is Shihua jelly. It's made from seaweed. It tastes cool and refreshing. It's very comfortable to eat, and it can also reduce internal heat."
Shihua jelly?
Jiang Si really hadn't eaten this before.
After sitting in the car for several hours, she felt her throat was a bit dry at this moment.
She took a bite and, sure enough, it was just as Sister Hu said. The texture was cold, crispy and smooth, a bit like ice jelly.
But when she chewed it carefully, there was still a faint, salty freshness that even the brown sugar water couldn't cover up.
"How is it?"
Jiang Si nodded, "Sister-in-law, this Shihua jelly is really delicious!"
"If you like it, eat more. Shihua seaweed is everywhere. You can eat it whenever you want."
"Okay!"
The three of them chatted while eating the Shihua jelly. It was so pleasant.
Just then, there was suddenly a "bang" from outside -
