Chapter 35
“What? You didn’t like any of them?” Regimental Commander Zhao laughed in exasperation. “Then what kind of person are you looking for? Tell me, what kind of person do you want?”
“Your mother entrusted you to me, which means I have to find you a husband.”
Regimental Commander Zhao thought Lin Xixi might have feelings for the married man Yan Lei, so his face tightened: “Let me tell you, you came here to get married. Your uncle has already brought the best young men he could find to you, don’t you dare tell me you didn’t like any of them.”
He warned her: “Either I close my eyes and pick one for you, and you marry whoever I tell you to. Or, you pick someone you actually like.”
“Or, I’ll buy you a train ticket, and you go home immediately. A big girl staying at her uncle’s house, if something happens, your uncle won’t be able to answer to your mother.”
Lin Xixi was startled. She looked up and saw that Regimental Commander Zhao’s expression was very stern; he was serious.
She couldn’t be sent back. If she was sent back, she would lose all her opportunities.
She lowered her head to think, then looked up and said: “Driver Zhang is okay.”
Regimental Commander Zhao was pleased: “You think Xiao Zhang is good too, right? Zhang is a northerner like us, so there won’t be any fighting over food later on. He loves the pancakes you make; he was praising them all day today.”
“Then I’ll talk to him tomorrow, and you two can start dating.”
Date then. Anyway, she wouldn’t marry him, and her uncle couldn’t really force a marriage on her. After all, her uncle was a cadre and couldn’t do such a thing. Otherwise, if she made a scene at the Military Unit, he would be criticized too.
Besides, if something like this happened during those ten years, it could have been labeled as feudal dross and she would have been paraded through the streets in a cangue.
Date then; it was just right that she needed to find Driver Zhang to fish for information.
Having dealt with Regimental Commander Zhao, Lin Xixi came out of the room and saw Gangzi and Yingzi each holding a square wooden stool, about to walk outside.
She asked: “Where are you going?”
Gangzi said: “Returning the stools. These are from Uncle Yan’s house.”
Today, Lin Xixi wore the dress she had dreamed of in her youth. This dress was definitely not in fashion in the nineties, but in this current era, it was the most stylish clothing. Yan Lei had only taken one look at it today.
Lin Xixi was not reconciled.
Her greatest assets were two things: being virtuous and being beautiful. Perhaps tomorrow her aunt wouldn’t let her wear it anymore, or might even put it away for Yingzi. She had to let Yan Lei see her again.
Men all liked young and beautiful women. Even if the wife at home was beautiful, how could home flowers compare to wild ones?
Wasn’t this an opportunity that fell from the sky? She immediately stepped forward and took them from her younger brother and sister, one in each hand: “Alright, I’ll go. You two go play.”
When Yan Lei came home from work today, he got out of the jeep and walked quickly towards his house.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw a square area of ground that had already been tilled.
“I’m back.” Yan Lei shouted into the house, his eyes bright, “The soil has been turned?”
Yan Xiang was the first to greet him as usual. She ran over and was lifted up by him in one go, anxiously claiming credit: “Mom and I loosened the soil this morning. Xiangxiang did work too! And caught earthworms! Earthworms don’t have babies, if an earthworm breaks into two, it becomes two earthworms!”
Having not seen her father all day, she couldn’t wait to tell him all the knowledge she had acquired that day in one breath.
Qiao Wei came out of the room: “You’re back early today.”
“It’s Saturday,” Yan Lei said.
He observed that Qiao Wei had a good complexion today and didn’t have the lethargic look from yesterday or the day before. He said: “You turned all the soil?”
Yan Xiang claimed credit again: “And me! I did it with Mom!”
“Yes, yes, yes, Xiangxiang is great, you can work.” Yan Lei rubbed Yan Xiang’s head, looked left and right, and asked, “Are we eating now?”
“We’re having noodles today, we’ll boil them whenever we eat,” Qiao Wei asked, “If you’re hungry, I’ll boil them for you now. We aren’t hungry yet, it’s a bit early.”
Yan Lei immediately said: “I’m not hungry either. It just so happens I’m going out for a bit, wait until I get back to boil them!”
Qiao Wei: “?”
“Ahem, that…” Yan Lei said, “Didn’t we agree, I’m going to the river beach to get some silt…”
The dignified Regimental Commander sounded weak as he spoke, and he even peeked at Qiao Wei’s expression. He looked just like a teenager who had finished his homework but was still nervous about being caught playing video games by his parents.
“…” Qiao Wei crossed her arms.
“Monday!” Yan Lei said, “I’ve already agreed with the electrician, he’s coming Monday morning to install the light in the bathroom!”
“Monday afternoon the carpenter is coming to install that wooden rack for you to wash clothes!”
“I’ve arranged it all.” Yan Lei tried his best to puff out his chest.
Look, the things she asked him to do, he had all taken care of. So now…
Qiao Wei chuckled: “Go ahead.”
Yan Lei was overjoyed, immediately took off his uniform, found the largest bucket, and grabbed a shovel.
Yan Xiang ran quickly to get her own small shovel: “I want to go too, Dad, I’m going too!”
Yan Lei was full of joy: “Let’s go, let’s go dig mud together!”
Qiao Wei became nervous: “Don’t you let her get near the river.”
“Don’t worry, the river beach is huge, I’ll keep an eye on her.” Yan Lei guaranteed, “My swimming skills are good, I can dive under the ice in winter. Don’t worry.”
He was terrified that Qiao Wei would regret changing her mind and not let him and Yan Xiang go, so he gave Yan Xiang a wink, and the father and daughter hurriedly left the house.
Qiao Wei shouted from behind: “How long will it take?”
“It won’t take an hour!”
The voice came back, but the people were already gone.
As soon as she agreed to let him farm, this Chinese bloodline started boiling, right? Couldn’t wait a single moment.
The gene for farming was carved into the bones.
Qiao Wei really didn’t wrong Yan Lei; Yan Lei was truly happy right now.
He carried a bucket, shouldered a shovel, and brought his daughter, the two of them heading to the river beach with high spirits. They hadn’t gone far when they ran into Regimental Commander Zhao, who was also heading towards his house with several young men, all in high spirits.
They even greeted each other.
“Where are you going?”
“Cleaned up a piece of land at home, planning to grow some vegetables. Going to scoop up some mud at the river beach.”
“Yo, Xiao Qiao allows it?”
“How can you say that, how could she not allow it.”
“Hahahaha.”
After they passed each other, Yan Lei even turned back and pointed at the young officers who were a few years younger than him: “Be spirited! Whether you can marry a wife depends on today!”
Everyone laughed. Some adjusted their hats, some buttoned their collars, trying to look “spirited.”
“Especially you and you!” Yan Lei specifically pointed at two people, “Win some glory for me!”
These two were Yan Lei’s subordinates.
They complained: “That depends on the girl’s wishes, it’s not like we can do whatever we want.”
“Less nonsense, if she doesn’t like you, it means you’re not good enough. Go back and do 200 pull-ups for me!”
Everyone burst into laughter.
One side headed towards Regimental Commander Zhao’s house, the other headed towards the river beach.
When they arrived at the river beach, Yan Lei instructed Yan Xiang: “Don’t go into the river. Dad will take you swimming another day. Don’t go into the water today.”
Yan Xiang was very obedient, saying she wouldn’t go into the water, so she wouldn’t, following her father to dig silt on the river beach.
The father used a big shovel, and the daughter used a small shovel, digging vigorously.
Soon, they had dug a full bucket.
Yan Lei also used Yan Xiang’s small shovel to stir in the bucket, picking out debris like pebbles as much as possible. Once it was done here at the river beach, there would be no need to deal with it at home.
He was actually still slightly fooling Qiao Wei; silt would become odorless after drying for a few days, but in its freshly dug state, it still had a bit of a smell.
“Oh no, Mom won’t make us throw it back, will she?” The father looked distressed.
The daughter followed suit with a distressed face: “Then what should we do?”
Mud was so fun.
“Then it’s up to you.” The father was despicable and shameless, letting the child take the fall.
A burst of whispering and plotting.
Sure enough, when they got home, Qiao Wei pinched her nose and questioned Yan Lei with her eyes.
Yan Lei said: “It’s like this when it’s just dug out, it won’t smell once it dries, really, I’m not lying to you.”
Yan Xiang hugged Qiao Wei’s leg and shouted: “Mom, Mom, the mud is so fun, don’t let Dad throw it back!”
With that exaggerated tone, one could tell someone had coached her in advance.
Yan Lei chuckled.
The father and daughter were covered in mud on their faces, legs, and arms, pitifully waiting for Qiao Wei to speak.
Qiao Wei was speechless.
“You better guarantee it really won’t smell once it’s dry.”
“Really!”
“…Go ahead, don’t get it over here.”
“Thank you, Wife/Mom!” The two cheered simultaneously and carried the bucket of mud over.
Qiao Wei watched the father and daughter squatting there playing with the mud from under the eaves.
At this moment, she could feel Yan Lei’s age.
At sixteen or seventeen, in later generations, they would still be big boys, many of whom would have to call their parents first when encountering problems. But Yan Lei had always been the solid pillar of the family.
Only at this moment did he reveal a slightly different side—a young father who, although already a father, still had a childlike side.
Suddenly, he seemed several years younger.
No, no, it was just that he had been too mature before.
Qiao Wei smiled: “I’m going to cook noodles. There are two kinds, one is tomato meat sauce dry noodles, and the other is ordinary cold noodles. Xiangxiang wants to eat the tomato sauce one, which kind do you want?”
Yan Lei looked up: “I’ll eat both!”
His chin was stained with black mud, but his teeth were very white. His eyes were bright and spirited.
How handsome. Who wouldn’t like living with a handsome guy? Qiao Wei happily went to cook the noodles.
The tomato meat sauce noodles received enthusiastic praise from Yan Lei.
Yan Xiang said: “Right! It’s delicious! I told Mom we’d eat it tonight too!”
Yan Xiang had requested to eat it again at night after finishing it at noon.
Qiao Wei didn’t really accept eating the same thing for two consecutive meals, but Yan Xiang said: “How could I get tired of it? Impossible to get tired of it! It’s too delicious.”
Thinking about the scarcity of supplies at this time, maybe it really wouldn’t be tiring to eat it twice in a row, so Qiao Wei agreed to her.
After finishing the tomato meat sauce noodles, Yan Lei also ate the regular cold noodles.
Qiao Wei’s seasoning used scallions, ginger, garlic, and dried chili peppers sautéed in lard, then added vinegar, soy sauce, salt, and sugar, mixed together.
The noodles had been soaked in ice-cold water from the hand-pumped well, topped with the seasoning, and it was incredibly comfortable to eat in the summer.
“This is delicious too!” Yan Lei said.
Yan Lei ate four big bowls of noodles and also had a poached egg, still wanting more.
After eating, he washed the bowls and put them out to dry.
Qiao Wei looked out from the study window and saw him standing with his hands on his hips in front of the vegetable patch.
The sky was dark but there was still sunlight, dark gold, slanting, making the muscles of the man’s arms have strong light and shadow like a manga.
Was he standing there imagining how to take care of that small vegetable patch?
He loved farming so much.
Qiao Wei was just about to go out and talk to Yan Lei about digging a sandpit for the child, when someone spoke in the courtyard.
Looking through the window, yo, Lin Xixi had come.
Wearing the dress she had given away.
Qiao Wei didn’t move for the time being, wanting to hear what Lin Xixi intended to do next. The enemy doesn’t move, I don’t move.
Huh? Returning the stools is fine, but why is she spinning around in place?
“Regimental Commander Yan, do you think I look good in this?” Lin Xixi smiled brightly.
She was a middle-aged person.
She wasn’t even a middle-aged person from the future internet era; she was a middle-aged person from the nineties.
She actually wasn’t of the mother generation; she was of the grandmother generation.
The thoughts of middle-aged and elderly people had already set, and it was too difficult to change. Lin Xixi’s body had just become younger, but her thoughts would not change with her body.
She firmly believed that no man could pass the beauty test.
She also felt that only young girls should dress up, and women who were married and had children should serve their husbands and raise their children, staying by the stove.
She was a young girl, Qiao Wei was a woman.
Qiao Wei held her breath, wanting to hear how Yan Lei would answer.
She was actually curious too, because this was a world in a book, Yan Lei was the male lead, and Lin Xixi was the female lead.
If the two of them collided alone, would they really develop uncontrollable feelings?
Yan Lei had always felt that this niece of Regimental Commander Zhao wasn’t very bright. Was this young girl silly from matchmaking today? Running to him and spinning around?
She really didn’t stand on ceremony with him, did she treat him like her own uncle?
Since that was the case, he wouldn’t stand on ceremony with her either.
