Chapter 4
The Jeep drove through the town. Strictly speaking, the Residential Compound wasn’t even in the town, but rather outside of it. However, since the founding of the country, the town had been constantly expanding, gradually connecting with the Military Unit housing area.
The car stopped. Yan Lei in the front seat got out and walked around to the back to open the tailgate. This type of old-fashioned Jeep didn’t have front and back rows of seats like modern cars; it had a driver’s seat and a front passenger seat in the front, while the back was cargo-style. There were bench-style seats on both the left and right sides, which could seat four people. With a bit of squeezing, it could even seat six.
The man remained silent, but he reached out his hand toward Qiao Wei. Looking at the hand reaching into the car, Qiao Wei mentally added another point to this man, Yan Lei.
She held Yan Lei’s hand and got out of the car. Yan Lei glanced at her, confirming she could stand steadily and that her body was fine, then let go of her hand.
Qiao Wei squinted at the buildings—they were all single-story houses with courtyards, but they all looked very old. One of these courtyards was her and Yan Lei’s home.
She retrieved from her memories that this house was a major, irreconcilable conflict between the original owner and Yan Lei. Because this was an old Residential Compound, and the Military District had opened a new family housing area on the other side of the town, full of brand-new red brick houses with bright windows and clean rooms. It also had enclosed management, commonly known as a “Residential Compound” in later times.
If they could have lived in the new military Residential Compound, perhaps the original owner wouldn’t have had so much resentment. But the protagonist, Yan Lei, had given away the spot for the new military Residential Compound to someone he thought needed it more. That was just the kind of person the male protagonist was.
Qiao Wei lowered her hand that was shielding her eyes from the sun and turned her head to say, “I remember there are still cigarettes at home. Give a pack of Blue…”
She searched her memory. Although the male protagonist was a Regimental Commander, he didn’t have exclusive use of this car; it was shared by several cadres. So, Qiao Wei wanted Yan Lei to give a pack of cigarettes to the driver. In this era, transportation was inconvenient, and using a car meant relying on the driver. For the sake of the future, Qiao Wei wanted to build a good relationship with the driver.
Little did she know, when she turned her head, Yan Lei was already stuffing a pack of Blue Peony into the driver’s hand. As soon as she spoke, both men paused and looked at her, their eyes filled with undisguised surprise. You see, the original owner hadn’t been this tactful. Yan Lei’s comrades-in-arms didn’t have a very good impression of her.
“Oh, Sister-in-law, why be so polite?” Driver Zhang laughed. “Who am I to you? Why be so formal with me?” Although he said that, Yan Lei still insisted on stuffing it into his hand: “Take it, take it. It’s precisely because we aren’t being formal with you that I’m giving it to you. Why are you pushing it away?”
The man who would give away the spot for the new dormitory in the military Residential Compound turned out not to be rigid at all, but quite flexible in his actions. So, people must be viewed from multiple angles.
Qiao Wei said to Driver Zhang, “We aren’t being formal with you, so why are you being formal with us? Just take it.” She spoke with a smile, clear and bright, making people feel comfortable.
Driver Zhang thought to himself, why is Regimental Commander Yan’s wife so different from before? Strange. Could it be that she went to the provincial capital, received a cold shoulder from others, and finally woke up and learned not to give people the cold shoulder? But since the Regimental Commander’s wife had said so, Driver Zhang smiled and tucked the cigarettes away: “Just call me if you need anything.”
The talkative and cheerful driver left, and the area in front of the courtyard gate suddenly turned cold. Mainly because Yan Lei’s face was too cold, radiating chilliness all over, making people feel cool even in summer.
Just as Qiao Wei was thinking about how to break the stalemate, Yan Lei spoke: “You go in first, I’m going to pick up the child.” After saying that, he turned and left.
Fine. Qiao Wei shrugged, pushed open the courtyard gate with a creak, and stepped inside.
Although the memories left to her by the original owner now belonged to her, to Qiao Wei, they were like owning many old movies; the house and the courtyard were like sets in a movie. Every place looked familiar, yet she knew she had never actually been there. The moment she stepped inside, she finally felt like she was walking from a movie into reality.
The house showed heavy signs of repairs and looked cluttered. But it was still a tidy courtyard. This area had been bombed before the liberation. The family housing area used to be a village, which had been bombed into ruins. At that time, even the town was almost empty. The population only gradually recovered after the founding of the country.
After the founding of the country, the Military District was established. Later, to save materials, the family housing area was renovated and rebuilt on the basis of the abandoned empty village. The courtyard where Yan Lei and Qiao Wei lived was considered one of the more complete ones. The layout of the house was neat, and it was likely a prosperous household in the old society. Although many additions and repairs had been made later, the old appearance of the house could still be seen beneath the patches.
Ignoring those patches and additions, one could still see the aesthetic beauty of the old architecture. Of course, only Qiao Wei would find it beautiful. People from different eras have completely different aesthetics. In the eyes of Yan Lei and the original owner, this was just an old stone house in the northern countryside, and they didn’t think it was rare. Red brick houses were rare and decent. However, in the eyes of Qiao Wei, who lived in a big metropolis, red brick houses felt rustic, while this kind of stone house felt idyllic.
In her view, those later private additions were messy and disorganized, destroying the simple texture of the house, which made her feel regretful. Looking across the courtyard, under the eaves of the entrance, there was a three-legged cast-iron coal stove with a white iron chimney stacked in sections. Because it was summer, it was placed outside. This type of stove was very convenient to move, and it could be moved into the house in winter.
Walking into the house, the layout was old-fashioned; upon entering, there was the main room, a place for eating and receiving guests. There were rooms on the east and west sides. Apparently, it had been renovated later, separated into two rooms from north to south, forming a suite.
In this west room, the first thing one saw upon entering was a desk in the outer room, which served as a study. On the waist-high partition wall were wooden-grid glass windows with curtains, separating the inner part into a bedroom. The bed in the bedroom was not a bed, but a kang. The iron door of the firebox was currently closed; when opened in winter to burn firewood or coal, it could provide heating like a radiator.
The furniture in the house carried a sense of the era. Especially the large wardrobe in the bedroom, with a wooden door on one side and a mirror on the other. Qiao Wei had only seen such vintage furniture on the internet before. Qiao Wei walked over and placed her hand on the mirror.
The woman in the mirror was wearing clothes characteristic of the era and had a shoulder-length “revolutionary” haircut characteristic of the era, but that face was truly her own face. The original owner looked exactly like her.
Qiao Wei let out a long sigh. It was a relief that the face was still her own. Taking advantage of the fact that Yan Lei had gone to pick up the child, she opened the wardrobe. It was almost entirely filled with women’s clothing, all hers. Everything she saw was covered in various small floral prints, which were also very characteristic of the era.
Closing the wardrobe door, she walked around the bedroom, comparing the received memories with what was in front of her to familiarize herself with the room. The west room was her and Yan Lei’s bedroom and study. After figuring that out, she went to the east room.
The layout of the east room was the same as this side. The inner room was the child’s bedroom, and the outer room didn’t have a desk, but there were some wooden toys scattered randomly. Qiao Wei saw a wooden horse head with a pole in the corner of the room, and a strange feeling had already arisen in her heart. She walked over, raised her hand, and gently touched the toy, and a strong sense of guilt rushed into her heart.
The original owner’s faint disgust for Yan Lei could be overcome by Qiao Wei. But the original owner’s deep guilt for her child—Qiao Wei had to take a few deep breaths to slightly control this strong emotion. Just then, a childish voice came from behind: “Mom?”
Qiao Wei turned around abruptly. Yan Lei stood outside the door of the east room, and a little boy stepped in and threw himself into Qiao Wei’s arms happily: “Mom! You’re back!”
The moment the small body threw itself onto her, a sense of soreness rushed into Qiao Wei’s nose. When she came back to her senses, she looked up and saw Yan Lei’s complex gaze examining her. She herself was already squatting on the ground, hugging the child in her arms tightly, tears streaming down her face. She hadn’t even seen what the child looked like clearly yet.
She loosened her arms, the little boy stood up straight, and the two of them faced each other. Whether a person is good-looking can be seen from childhood. As the son of the male protagonist, the little boy was naturally born with regular features and a beautiful nose bridge; he was clearly a handsome young boy. Qiao Wei stared at the child, watching him intently.
The little boy was originally happy and joyful, but he was startled to see Qiao Wei’s tear-stained face: “Mom, why are you crying?” Qiao Wei wiped her face. In her previous life, she had cried many times, but always in places where no one could see. Now that Yan Lei was watching her silently at the door, she wasn’t used to being seen crying.
She squeezed out a smile: “Mom missed you so much that I cried.” The little boy breathed a sigh of relief and became aggrieved again: “Xiangxiang missed Mom too! Mom has been gone for several days. I asked Mom when you would be back, and Dad said he didn’t know.”
Qiao Wei looked over. Yan Lei had his hands in his trouser pockets. Seeing her look over, he turned his face away. The little boy continued to complain: “I asked Dad to go pick up Mom. Dad wouldn’t go, and even said he would hit me if I mentioned it again.” He was truly aggrieved.
Qiao Wei asked: “Then did Dad hit you?” “No.” The little boy sniffled and complained, “Dad is so bad, he went to pick up Mom so late.”
It was good that he didn’t hit him. Yan Lei didn’t go to the provincial capital to find her immediately; Qiao Wei guessed he might have experienced a period of anger, pain, and struggle. The fact that he could be so calm now, and even didn’t hit the child, showed that his emotional control was very impressive. He was worthy of being a person who had been on the battlefield.
“It’s not Dad’s fault, it’s Mom’s fault.” Qiao Wei pulled the little boy back into her arms and said softly, “Mom will never leave you for so long again…”
The original owner Qiao Weiwei’s guilt for her child was different from other movie-like memories; this emotion was completely fused with Qiao Wei. Qiao Wei had completely taken over Qiao Weiwei’s life, and the most important part of it was her son, Yan Xiang. Xiang, the hometown of a great man. This name was chosen by the original owner herself after rejecting the names like Jianjun, Zhenhua, and Aiguo proposed by the male protagonist.
Now, Yan Xiang was Qiao Wei’s son. It was great. Qiao Wei discovered that her tears also included those shed for herself—in this world, she had family again, connected by blood. Qiao Wei hugged Yan Xiang tightly, burying her face in his small shoulder.
“Mom, Mom, don’t cry…” Yan Xiang had originally wanted to cry about the grievances of the past few days, but when Mom cried, he couldn’t cry anymore. The little man could only comfort his mom: “Don’t go on long trips in the future. If you do, take me with you.” Qiao Wei wiped her face and promised him with a smile.
When she looked up again, Yan Lei’s figure was no longer at the door of the east room. Qiao Wei didn’t pay attention to him for the time being; she first asked Yan Xiang if he had eaten lunch.
“I ate.” Yan Xiang said, “Aunt Yang’s scallion pancakes were delicious.” The Aunt Yang in Yan Xiang’s words was the neighbor to whom the original owner had entrusted the child. This was the military family housing area, and the surrounding neighbors were, of course, also military families. The other party’s husband was Yan Lei’s comrade-in-arms, Regimental Commander Zhao.
Qiao Wei looked closely at Yan Xiang and saw that, except for a little grievance in his emotions, his overall mental state was very good, and his clothes looked clean, which meant this “Aunt Yang” had taken good care of the child these past few days.
In the book, Yan Xiang was described as an introverted, reticent, and silent boy. Although it was described that he was well taken care of by his stepmother and taught to be very polite, and later became very successful, Qiao Wei always felt that those descriptions looked flowery but always had a hint of gloom when read carefully. Because the original text never described him with bright eyes and being so fond of smiling like he was now.
Where did the smiles in those eyes go later? Where did the radiance in the little boy’s eyes go? They were all gone. Qiao Wei felt a sense of discomfort surge in her heart. She touched Yan Xiang’s face. This child would be her son from now on, and she would not let the smile on his face disappear. She had promised Qiao Weiwei that. Qiao Wei was Qiao Weiwei now.
