Chapter 12
Qiao Wei held Yan Xiang’s hand as they walked home, heading straight to Yan Xiang’s room first.
She opened the wardrobe and the chest, rummaging through them, then turned to ask Yan Xiang, “Do you not have any clothes with patches?”
“No.”
“Are none of your clothes torn?”
“I gave all the torn clothes away.”
Qiao Wei asked, “Then has anyone ever said you look like a little young master?”
Yan Xiang nodded. “Yes.”
Qiao Wei felt nervous for a moment, but upon asking, she realized it was just some little brats. When playing together, they would tease and jeer, calling Yan Xiang a little young master.
Qiao Wei relaxed and thought for a moment before asking, “Jun Jun’s clothes have patches. Do other people’s clothes have them too?”
Yan Xiang thought about it and replied, “Some do, some don’t.”
Qiao Wei pressed, “Do the children in the Residential Compound have patches on their clothes?”
“There are fewer in the Residential Compound, and more in town,” Yan Xiang said.
The logic and observational skills revealed by this answer were far stronger than that of an average three or four-year-old. But Qiao Wei had no experience raising children, so she didn’t notice.
She just assumed all children were this smart.
Qiao Wei felt she was becoming a bit paranoid.
Because she understood this era in some ways—knowing the general trends and the severity—but in other ways, she didn’t, as she couldn’t figure out exactly which year important events occurred.
Moreover, this was a world in a book. She also had to consider errors caused by the author’s limited skill, lack of historical knowledge, and massive amount of headcanon.
But then she thought, Yan Xiang was Yan Lei’s son, and Yan Lei was the male lead, so she immediately felt she was worrying for nothing.
With the male lead’s halo protecting them, what was there to fear?
Thinking this, her heart settled.
But then she remembered how Sister Yang wouldn’t let Jun Jun play with Yan Xiang just now. Indeed, since she had returned yesterday, she had seen Yan Xiang playing by himself at home the whole time.
In Qiao Wei’s view, in an era and environment where people lived in single-story houses, shouldn’t the children all be playing together in groups?
She asked Yan Xiang, “Do you usually play with Jun Jun and the others?”
Yan Xiang shook his head. “No, I don’t play with them.”
Qiao Wei thought it might be because the original owner, Qiao Weiwei, was unsociable among the military dependents, which led to Yan Xiang being ostracized, just like at Regimental Commander Zhao’s house earlier.
Those mothers didn’t let their own children play with Yan Xiang.
In the future, Qiao Wei had seen news stories where parents would dress their children in dresses worth thousands and send them to Kindergarten, only for them to get torn, and then demand the other parents pay thousands in compensation. As a result, the child would be ostracized at Kindergarten—who would dare let their child play with that kid, if they accidentally ruined their clothes, they’d have to pay thousands.
It wasn’t unreasonable. If Qiao Wei were the parent of “other children,” she wouldn’t let her child play with a kid wearing luxury items either. So she didn’t blame Sister Yang.
But Qiao Wei was Yan Xiang’s mother now, and seeing him ostracized, how could she be happy?
She decided, “Mom will find you some suitable clothes later so you can play with them.”
Just as she was wondering if the child could understand the logic behind this, Yan Xiang shook his head. “I don’t like playing with them.”
Qiao Wei: “?”
Yan Xiang’s little face was serious. “They are too noisy and don’t listen to anything.”
After saying this, Yan Xiang ran off to drink water.
Leaving Qiao Wei behind: “??”
On the table under the eaves were an enamel basin and several enamel mugs.
Yan Xiang was holding one of them and gulping it down.
Qiao Wei sifted through her memories and remembered that this was all boiled, cooled water.
Speaking of which, she had to thank the original owner. Although the original owner left a bad impression on others and handled her marriage and relationship with the male lead poorly, she did at least manage to make the male lead break many bad habits.
For example, drinking raw water, not washing his feet, smacking his lips, and spitting everywhere.
Qiao Wei’s impression of Yan Lei yesterday could be said to be quite good, and that was because this man had already undergone fundamental changes thanks to the original owner’s hard work. Thinking about it, the fact that Yan Lei could have a post-marriage romance with Lin Xixi in the original story was also something to thank the original owner for.
The predecessors plant the trees, and the descendants enjoy the shade.
Others only saw Qiao Weiwei as unsociable, arrogant, and fastidious in an unlikable way, failing to see her hygiene, pursuit of a better life, and level of spiritual needs.
It was just the wrong era.
Seeing Yan Xiang playing by himself in the shade under the eaves, Qiao Wei went to the study.
After experiencing the Cafeteria and the Farmers Market today, her understanding of money in her mind became clearer. She pulled open the drawer, took out the tin box, and counted the money inside.
There was over a hundred yuan.
An ordinary worker’s salary was only about thirty yuan or so, which could support a family of four or five.
This tin box was kept in the drawer; it was for daily household expenses and belonged to the amount Qiao Wei could control.
Over a hundred yuan was really a large sum of money.
Qiao Wei thought for a moment, stood up, and went into the bedroom. She stepped on a stool and fumbled around on the top cabinet, and sure enough, she found another tin box. But this tin box had a hasp and a small iron lock on it.
Qiao Wei shook it, then put it back.
According to the original owner’s memories, the box in the drawer was for daily expenses, while the box hidden on top of the wardrobe was the family savings.
But the original owner didn’t know how much savings the family had. Yan Lei gave the original owner 50 yuan for household expenses every month, and if it wasn’t enough, she could ask for more. But it was always enough, and even quite generous.
A dress cost six or seven, maybe eight yuan, and she bought them whenever she wanted. There were several in the wardrobe.
The original owner had always lived a life without worrying about money or ration coupons, and since her relationship with Yan Lei wasn’t good, she had never asked about the family’s savings.
Don’t blame Qiao Wei for being materialistic, but she really wanted to figure out the money situation now.
She had spent the last days of her life in a hospital ward, seeing too much of the reality of the world. Not to mention her father, who, fearing she would ask him for money for medical treatment, blocked her directly. Her boyfriend had also retreated when faced with the huge medical expenses.
To live, one must be realistic. Qiao Wei wanted a sense of security; first, she wanted a job so she could earn her own money, and second, she wanted to understand the family’s financial situation.
As for whether she and Yan Lei could develop feelings, that was secondary. Qiao Wei had watched her father and mother’s marriage her whole life; she had no illusions about marriage like young girls did.
After putting away the money and coupons, Qiao Wei tidied up the room and cleaned it.
She hadn’t done any cleaning for a long time. In the hospital ward, the space that belonged to her was only a bed and a bedside cabinet. Some other people—patients or their family members—didn’t even like her pulling the curtain, thinking it affected the ventilation of the ward.
Now this was her home, and she had to cherish it.
After cleaning her bedroom, study, and living room, she walked into Yan Xiang’s bedroom and found that his room was unexpectedly tidy.
In the summer, there was a bamboo mat on the kang, and a thin towel quilt for cover. The towel quilt had already been folded. Although the corners weren’t very neat, that was because Yan Xiang was small and lacked the strength; it was clear the child had done his best.
Qiao Wei walked outside and saw Yan Xiang still playing in the shade. This child was so quiet, so quiet he seemed almost non-existent.
Hearing footsteps, Yan Xiang looked up and smiled at his mom.
The child’s smile was so pure.
Qiao Wei squatted down. “Did you fold the quilt yourself?”
“Yeah!”
Qiao Wei patted his head. “Xiangxiang is so great.”
She remembered to ask again, “Who dressed you this morning? Dad?”
She had woken up late; by the time she woke up, Yan Xiang was already playing by himself, and his clothes were already properly on. Qiao Wei thought, perhaps Yan Lei dressed him?
But Yan Xiang lifted his little face and said, “I dressed myself.”
Very proudly.
Qiao Wei didn’t know what level of development a child should be at this age. It seemed that children started learning to dress themselves and button buttons when they entered Kindergarten? She had previously scrolled past cute videos of Kindergarten children having buttoning competitions.
In her impression, the Military Unit had a nursery, but families like The Yan Household and the Zhao family, where the wives didn’t work outside, didn’t send their children to the nursery. They all raised their children at home.
In big cities, there were many factories and dual-income families. But in small places, the economy wasn’t developed, and unlike rural women who had to work in the fields to earn work points, there were actually many housewives.
The military dependents who followed the troops were all families of military officers; their husbands earned enough, and they didn’t really care if their wives earned a salary.
So, Qiao Wei not working and being a housewife at home, Yan Lei didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.
There was unwashed laundry in a basin in the yard. Qiao Wei rubbed Yan Xiang’s head again, praised him a couple of times, stood up, and went to wash the clothes.
In this family now, Yan Lei was responsible for earning money, so Qiao Wei had to take on the housework; it was a logical arrangement.
Qiao Wei found a basin and a washboard, took a small stool, and sat next to the hand pump to wash the clothes. After finishing one basin of clothes, her arms were dead, and her waist was dead too.
She had only seen this kind of hand-washing in TV dramas before, where it was portrayed as quite easy, but she hadn’t realized the intensity of the physical exertion would be this high.
The clothes were barely finished; she couldn’t wring them out anymore, but since it was her own dirt yard, she just hung them up dripping wet.
Then Qiao Wei went back into the house and collapsed onto the bed.
Yan Xiang came in to check on her. “Mom, what’s wrong?”
“I’m dead,” Qiao Wei said weakly.
Yan Xiang: “?”
Qiao Wei sighed. “Washing clothes made my arms so tired I can’t move them.”
“Why didn’t you wait for Dad to come back and wash them?” The child blinked his large eyes, his eyelashes fluttering.
“Huh?” Qiao Wei lifted her neck.
She sifted through her memories.
It was really troublesome; memories were either strong or faint. In the memories left by the original owner, the memories concerning her legitimate husband, Yan Lei, happened to be the faintest part. It was as if she simply didn’t want to think about him.
It required a strong trigger or active recall to sift them out.
Sifting through it and looking, sure enough, it turned out that Yan Lei was the one who actually did the laundry at home before.
The original owner mainly washed some small items. The big items took too much effort, and she couldn’t handle them; after all, it was an era without washing machines. Yan Lei was responsible for all the heavy and dirty work at home.
Qiao Wei’s favorability toward Yan Lei rose again.
“Mom, do you want some water?” Yan Xiang asked considerately.
“Yes~” Qiao Wei acted spoiled toward Yan Xiang.
Yan Xiang immediately went out patter-patter-patter, and before long, he came in holding a white enamel mug. “Here!”
Qiao Wei drank half a mug of boiled, cooled water from Yan Xiang’s hand.
Although he was a son she had taken over midway, he really was a worry-free and considerate child!
Qiao Wei didn’t skimp on praise; she not only showered Yan Xiang with compliments but also expressed her happiness and gratitude for his considerate actions.
Yan Xiang’s little chest puffed out even more, and his dark, liquid eyes brightened even further.
With a child like this, even if Lin Xixi became a stepmother, it would be quite worry-free. It wouldn’t be surprising if she became a well-known, good stepmother in the surrounding ten miles and eight villages.
