At the military's group wedding, my best friend and I swapped husbands.

Chapter 8: Marrying these two beautiful girls into the Bai brothers is truly a disservice to them.

Bai Rongbei didn't reply, but simply took the bed sheet from her hand: "Let's go inside."

The four entered the house.

Bai Si'an placed the lunchbox on the table: "I brought the food back, eat up."

There were two aluminum lunch boxes. Inside were shredded potatoes, steamed corn bread, and some pickled vegetables.

Lin Weiwei and Su Wanwan were also hungry at this moment, so they sat down to eat without thinking about anything else.

Bai Rongbei put the sheets back on the bed and sat down as well.

The four of them ate in silence.

After finishing his meal, Bai Rongbei said, "This afternoon we'll go look at the houses in the family compound. The regiment allocated us two rooms, next to each other."

He paused, then looked at the two girls: "The conditions here are worse than here, so be prepared."

Lin Weiwei and Su Wanwan nodded.

The wedding was rushed. The two brothers had just returned from a mission when they applied for their marriage certificate, and their wives arrived shortly afterward, so they hadn't had time to apply for a family housing unit.

Since Su Wanwan and Lin Weiwei were both there, they thought it would be better to let the two girls choose their own houses.

"Shall we go now?" Bai Si'an asked.

"Let's go." Bai Rongbei stood up.

The four of them went out the door and walked deeper into the residential area.

The further you go in, the older the houses become. Some houses have even lost their plaster, revealing the red bricks underneath.

The number of people I encountered on the road gradually increased.

It's mostly women and children; the men are all at work at this time.

Seeing Bai Rongbei and Bai Si'an with two unfamiliar faces, they all looked over curiously.

Bai Rongbei stopped in front of a row of bungalows that were further inside the house.

"There are only these two rooms, these are the only two adjacent rooms, but the conditions aren't very good, they're worse than the others." He pointed to the two adjacent rooms.

Su Wanwan and Lin Weiwei wanted to live together, so their only requirement for the residential compound was that it had to be next to each other so that they could easily visit each other and chat.

Both of them looked curiously at the two rooms. The doors were locked, and the windows were dusty, making it impossible to see inside.

As I was watching, the doors of several houses next door opened, and a few women came out.

"Commander Bai's back?" A round-faced woman greeted them with a smile, but her eyes darted towards Lin Weiwei and Su Wanwan. "Is this the new bride?"

Bai Rongbei nodded: "Sister Zhang."

"Oh my, they're so pretty." Aunt Zhang walked over and looked the two of them up and down. "You must be from the city. You look so different from us roughnecks."

It was impossible to tell whether her words were a compliment or something else.

Several more women came over and gathered around to watch.

"This is Lin Weiwei, my wife," Bai Si'an introduced, then pointed to Su Wanwan, "This is Su Wanwan, my brother's wife."

"This is double happiness!" A tall, thin woman clapped her hands. "The Bai brothers have both gotten married at once, that's wonderful."

As she spoke, she suddenly lowered her voice, but the volume wasn't actually much lower: "It's just a pity, such beautiful girls, one married a cripple, and the other married... sigh."

The words were left unsaid, but everyone understood the meaning.

The atmosphere suddenly became a little awkward.

Bai Rongbei's face darkened, and he remained silent.

Bai Si'an pushed up his glasses and pursed his lips.

Lin Weiwei and Su Wanwan exchanged a glance but remained silent.

They realized that these military families were pitying them.

I think they married poorly.

Aunt Zhang quickly smoothed things over, saying, "What are you saying! Commander Bai and Technician Bai are both good comrades! The girls are lucky to marry into this family!"

The tall, thin woman realized she had said the wrong thing and smiled sheepishly, "Yes, yes, good fortune, good fortune."

After exchanging a few more casual words, the women dispersed, but they kept turning back and whispering among themselves as they left.

Bai Rongbei took out the key and opened the door to one of the rooms.

With a creak, the door opened.

A dusty smell wafted over.

Lin Weiwei and Su Wanwan stood at the door looking inside, and were both stunned.

The house was even more...simple than they had imagined.

The ground was muddy and full of potholes.

Large patches of plaster have peeled off the wall.

The yellow mud inside was exposed. The window was small, and the glass was so dirty that one could not see outside.

The room was empty, with only a broken wooden table, two stools with missing legs, and some miscellaneous items piled up in the corner.

The innermost room was a small cubicle, which should have been a bedroom, but there wasn't even a bed.

The kitchen consisted of a makeshift earthen stove in the corner and a rusty iron pot.

Su Wanwan walked in, her feet sinking into the soft, muddy ground, covered in dust that had accumulated over countless years.

She squatted down and wiped the ground with her finger; her fingertip was completely black.

Lin Weiwei also came in, looked around, and walked to the window to try to open it, only to find that the window couldn't be opened at all, as the hinges were all rusted shut.

"This..." She turned to look at Bai Rongbei, "How can anyone live here?"

Bai Rongbei stood at the door, his voice calm: "The military has limited resources. This house has been empty for a long time; it can be tidied up and is habitable."

Bai Si'an also came in and looked around: "It's better than where we lived when we first arrived."

Lin Weiwei and Su Wanwan fell silent.

They knew the conditions were harsh, but seeing it with their own eyes was still a bit hard to accept.

The other room was similar, or even more dilapidated, with a leak in the roof.

After viewing the house, the four of them stood outside the door.

Bai Rongbei said, "I'll write a report and apply for the family housing. It should be approved tomorrow, and I can get the keys."

He looked at the two girls: "Stay in the dorm for the night. Get the keys tomorrow and start unpacking."

Lin Weiwei and Su Wanwan nodded.

"Shall we go back to the dorm first?" Bai Si'an asked.

"Let's go back." Bai Rongbei turned and walked out.

Baisian followed.

Lin Weiwei and Su Wanwan walked behind.

After walking a few steps, Lin Weiwei whispered to Su Wanwan, "Wanwan, did you see that? That house is dirty..."

Su Wanwan nodded: "I saw it."

"If we move in, how long will it take to set up?" Lin Weiwei sighed. "And there's no toilet... we'll have to go to that public toilet to use it..."

Su Wanwan was also worried: "What should we do? We can't just stay here, can we?"

Lin Weiwei thought for a moment, then suddenly clenched her fist: "Staying! We must stay! And it has to be a clean and tidy place!"

She looked at Su Wanwan, her eyes shining: "Wanwan, we can't let them look down on us. Don't they think we're spoiled? We'll show them! We'll keep the house sparkling clean and live better than anyone else!"

Su Wanwan looked at her, and was also moved, nodding gently: "Okay. Let's pack together."

The Bai brothers, who were walking ahead, actually heard the whispers of the two sisters behind them.

Bai Rongbei whispered to Bai Si'an, "These two wives are probably more than just a little spoiled."

Bai Si'an pushed up his glasses: "Brother, they grew up in the city and have never experienced hardship. Let's teach them slowly."

"Well, as long as they learn, we can teach them, but we don't know if they can learn it," Bai Rongbei replied.

Bai Si'an didn't say anything.

He was actually a little worried.

Lin Weiwei doesn't look like she's capable of doing any work, and Su Wanwan is even more gentle and mild-mannered; she probably wouldn't even know how to lift a broom.

But he didn't say it aloud.

The four returned to their dormitory.

Bai Si'an said to Lin Weiwei, "Once the family compound is ready tomorrow, we can move in. We'll just have to make do for tonight."

Lin Wei nodded slightly without saying anything.

Right now, her mind is completely focused on how to tidy up the house.

Bai Si'an looked at her and suddenly noticed that her eyes were downcast, and her long eyelashes cast a small shadow on her face.

Her profile was soft, with a slightly upturned nose. Her lips were a little dry from walking, and she unconsciously licked them.

Bai Si'an's heart suddenly stirred.

He quickly looked away, pushed up his glasses, and tried to hide his momentary unease.