Chapter 23
Actually, except for those who are bursting with self-confidence, the vast majority of people still need recognition and validation from others.
Yan Lei’s misfortune was that, as someone who only became literate after joining the army, he held a deep reverence for knowledge, which was why he had pushed past all objections to marry an educated girl.
As a result, the educated girl looked down on his peasant background, never acknowledging his strengths and abilities in their marriage, treating them with cold indifference.
In later generations, some low-class men used the PUA tactic of belittling their girlfriends:
“You’re so ugly, who would want you besides me?”
“You’re so stupid you can’t do anything right. Who else could put up with you besides me?”
Over time, the girls would lose their self-confidence and become too afraid to leave the men.
Although the original owner didn’t go so far as to belittle Yan Lei, this long-term indifference and lack of validation still had the same effect.
Everyone needs to be praised. Yan Lei seemed capable and good at praising others, but in reality, he also needed to be validated by others.
So when Qiao Wei went out of her way to tell him that she had used two industrial coupons, he stood even straighter.
Chewing on her chopsticks, Qiao Wei caught a glimpse of Yan Lei’s long-unmet emotional needs and now had a good idea of how to coax this man.
She changed the subject: “That older brother at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, his surname is Xu. I chatted with him, and he said if any good stuff comes in in the future, he’ll save some for me.”
Yan Lei smiled and said, “That’s great. People in those units have it really good. He said they got two cases of canned goods, but let me tell you, they got at least three. Otherwise, why would they only dare to put them on display today when they arrived yesterday?”
Qiao Wei was surprised. “What? Are they embezzling?”
“How did you jump straight to embezzlement? How could they embezzle?” Yan Lei was also surprised by her train of thought. “State property—if even a single needle goes missing, they have to pay out of their own pockets to replace it. They just ‘digest’ it internally first. When good stuff comes in, they buy it themselves first, and they have to call their relatives and friends to buy it too. Otherwise, they’d be scolded to death by their relatives and friends.”
“It’s so hard,” Qiao Wei sighed. “When I bought a bit more meat, the auntie behind me in line had to complain. I was so scared that I grabbed the meat and ran.”
Yan Lei stopped his chopsticks. “Is there not enough meat to eat?”
Qiao Wei used a spoon to scoop a serving of vegetables into his bowl. “I did it to fry up some lard residue and render some lard.”
Today’s dishes were all stir-fried with lard residue, making them exceptionally fragrant. It was so delicious that Yan Xiang didn’t even speak, his mouth never stopping as he ate.
Yan Lei was relieved. He took a few big bites and also praised, “It’s exceptionally fragrant!”
“We can have another meal of it tomorrow,” Qiao Wei said. “We should finish it as soon as possible. The weather is too hot; we don’t want it to spoil.”
Yan Lei said, “Feel free to use as much as you want when you cook. Don’t be stingy with it.”
With his words, Qiao Wei felt much more at ease. Of course she wanted to eat and drink well, but in this era of scarce resources, where simplicity, frugality, and thriftiness were praised as virtues, she was very afraid that Yan Lei would constantly tell her to “save it.” That would make life miserable.
So the “buy buy buy” attitude of a domineering president really did have its charm.
Looking at Yan Lei, Qiao Wei even felt that his handsome, heroic face looked even better.
“Okay,” she said, smiling as she served more food to the father and son.
Yan Lei looked away, lowering his head to eat as if he didn’t care.
How could he not care? His wife’s smile was bright, and her eyes were captivating, making one…
…restless with desire.
After finishing their meal, the couple had a tacit understanding without needing to speak; Yan Lei proactively went to wash the dishes.
This would never happen in other households, where the wives were responsible for cooking, washing dishes, taking care of the kids, tidying the house, and doing the laundry.
Yan Lei convinced himself: “Doing both the cooking and the dishwashing is indeed annoying.”
“Exactly,” Qiao Wei said. “It’s not that I won’t do anything, but rather that we should allocate the chores more reasonably, right?”
The word “right” sounded sweet and coquettish, in a tone Yan Lei had never heard from her before.
He glanced at Qiao Wei; she was looking at him with a smile, both cunning and charming.
Their eyes met, as if in a silent contest.
Qiao Wei fished the canned goods out of the bucket and walked away with a smile.
Yan Xiang had been waiting eagerly for a long time. Seeing her take the canned goods, he cheered, “Open the can, open the can!”
He followed her into the kitchen like a little tail.
Only after Qiao Wei left did Yan Lei fail to hold back his laughter, shaking his head as he smiled.
She just didn’t want to do chores, yet she could actually come up with such twisted logic.
But this feeling was really good. After several years of marriage, Yan Lei finally felt like he was living with a real, living person.
It was just washing a few dishes. What of it? He’d just wash them.
The canned yellow peaches were icy cold.
In the evening, the family sat in the yard listening to the chirping of insects, sharing the canned peaches together. It was extremely refreshing.
The syrup in the can was too sweet. In her past life, Qiao Wei wouldn’t have drunk this syrup. But now that she had changed worlds, she couldn’t let it go to waste.
She diluted the syrup with boiled water and gave everyone a cup to drink.
Not to mention the syrup, even the glass jar from the canned food couldn’t be thrown away. Once washed, it could be used as a cup or a container.
In this era, nothing could be wasted. Even if you didn’t use it yourself, things like old clothes and old shoes could be given to others.
Even old clothes that were too worn out to wear could be recycled into regenerated cloth. regenerated cloth wasn’t durable, but it was cheap and didn’t require fabric coupons. So many people were still willing to buy regenerated cloth to make clothes.
Even though Qiao Wei came from a society with an immense abundance of goods, she had to do as the locals did now.
Thinking that the variety of food would probably be even scarcer when winter came—she had heard her mother talk about eating winter-stored Chinese cabbage for an entire winter when she was a child—she washed the yellow peach jar, shook off the water, and said, “I’ll buy some tomatoes later and we can make some tomato paste.”
Preparing for a rainy day, she wanted to make as much preparation for winter as possible.
Yan Lei said, “Okay.”
Qiao Wei set the jar and the lid on the small table to dry.
“Hey,” she kicked the chair Yan Lei was sitting on. “Is there a larger version of this chair, the kind where you can half-recline? If there is, get me a big one, preferably with a footstool so I can rest my feet.”
The chair Yan Lei sat on was a small bamboo chair, with the seat only as high as his calves and a slanted backrest. It was the kind commonly seen in rural areas and period dramas, and was basically no longer seen in big cities in later generations.
Qiao Wei had found it quite comfortable to sit on for the past two days and wanted a big one. To put it plainly, what she actually wanted was a lounge chair.
The house had a yard, there were trees in the yard, and there was shade under the trees.
A lounge chair rocking under the trees was simply the life of Qiao Wei’s dreams.
Yan Lei said, “Okay.”
Qiao Wei raised her head, leaning on the small table to look at him.
The sun had not fully set yet, and the sunlight was a coppery gold, casting a remarkably textured glow on the man’s skin.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Qiao Wei said, “All you know how to say is ‘okay’.”
Yan Lei lost his laugh and explained, “Okay means I agree.”
“Then what kind of things would be ‘not okay’?” Qiao Wei insisted on asking.
Yan Lei said without hesitation, “Anything that violates principles is not okay.”
“You’re getting off track. I’m talking about daily life, things between the two of us,” Qiao Wei said, looking at him.
Yan Lei raised his head, his features exceptionally upright and handsome.
“As long as you are willing to live a good life with me, between the two of us, as long as it’s within my power, nothing is ‘not okay’.”
“You… as a man…” Qiao Wei couldn’t help but laugh, covering her face. “A man like you…”
…is really too much like a domineering president.
It’s a bit hard to handle.
Yan Lei, however, didn’t find it funny; he was very serious.
“I promised you back then,” he said. “If you were willing to come here with me, I would agree to whatever you wanted, as long as it was within my power.”
But Qiao Weiwei had never appreciated his kindness.
This man still didn’t know that Qiao Weiwei had never loved him to her dying day and had never been willing to spend her life with him.
Qiao Wei felt a bit sad, though she couldn’t say for whom.
She didn’t want to blame anyone. Aside from life and death, nothing else was a big deal. She didn’t even want to blame the father who had abandoned her or the lover who had left her.
Compared to fate, human nature was weak and cold, as insignificant as dust.
She didn’t want to blame Qiao Weiwei or Yan Lei. They were simply two incompatible people who had united without affection in a special era, ultimately resulting in tragedy.
But as the light of the setting sun hit the man’s face, the shadow of his nose cast high and deep.
A strange softness welled up in her heart, and she actually felt a trace of envy toward Qiao Weiwei.
She raised her hand and touched Yan Lei’s face.
“Then can you promise me too?” she asked softly.
Yan Lei pulled her hand down and held it, puzzled. “What do you mean by ‘too’?”
“The Qiao Weiwei you promised back then is dead, I told you,” Qiao Wei said. “The one living with you from now on is me, Qiao Wei.”
“So, can you promise me too?”
The setting sun sank below the eaves, and darkness enveloped the yard.
Her eyes sparkled in the twilight, filled with expectation.
All alone, having died in solitude, the first person she saw when she woke up was this man.
Fate had arranged for him to become her husband.
At this moment, Qiao Wei actually felt a bit sentimental, wanting to hear this man promise her with his own mouth, to say to her once again what he had once said to Qiao Weiwei.
To be looked to with expectation, to have someone act coquettishly toward him.
Yan Lei squeezed her hand, feeling that the moment before him was rare and beautiful. It was exactly like his fantasy of married life before he got married.
This fantasy had never been realized, until now, at this very moment.
Yan Lei held Qiao Wei’s hand, caressing it with his thumb, and looked up.
“You married me and are living with me…” he said. “As long as it’s within my power, I will make it happen for you.”
“I keep my word.”
“Then what about my job?”
“I’ve asked someone to help. We have to wait; it’s not something that can be done in a day or two. Don’t worry.”
Having heard what she wanted, Qiao Wei showed a satisfied and happy smile.
She wanted to withdraw her hand, but she couldn’t pull it free.
Yan Lei held it very tightly, not letting her pull it back. His thumb was still rubbing the back of her hand, sending a tingling sensation through her.
She felt that in the dim light, Yan Lei’s voice also seemed slightly hoarse.
A tingling sensation surged up from the back of her hand.
A restless warmth stirred within her body.
In the house, Yan Xiang clung to the windowsill and shouted, “Mom, Mom, I want to hear ‘little cloth dolls adventure’!”
The atmosphere instantly vanished.
Qiao Wei pulled her hand back. Yan Lei let her go.
“Coming,” Qiao Wei said, walking past him.
Yan Lei watched her out of the corner of his eye until she left his field of vision.
He propped his long legs on the ground, tilting the front legs of the small bamboo chair up, rocking it back and forth, making a creaking sound.
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
