Chapter 61
“Qiao Wei—” Yan Lei called out to her from a distance.
Qiao Wei went over, and Yan Lei handed Yan Xiang to her. “He’s had enough. Any more sun and his skin will start peeling.”
Qiao Wei really couldn’t accept a child of this age being completely naked in public, even though the river not far away was full of naked, half-grown kids. She had brought a towel with her, so she quickly dried Yan Xiang off and wrapped it around his lower half.
It worked out well; the large towel wrapped around Yan Xiang like a bath towel.
Yan Lei glanced toward the chairs. “Who is that?”
He had originally wanted to carry Yan Xiang over himself, but since there was an older woman sitting next to Qiao Wei and he was only wearing swim trunks, it wasn’t very appropriate for him to go over. That was why he had called Qiao Wei.
“An elderly lady. We were chatting about making shoes,” Qiao Wei said. “I want to ask her to help me make some shoes.”
“Don’t give her money,” Yan Lei said. “Give her goods instead.”
No one was allowed to sell goods or provide services in a private capacity; everyone had to belong to a work unit or organization. Without one, it was considered speculation and profiteering.
“We agreed on two catties of white flour. Is that expensive?”
“It’s expensive. She’s ripping you off.”
“Huh?”
Yan Lei gave a half-smile. “You’re so used to eating fine grains that you think it’s normal, don’t you?”
Qiao Wei felt a bit embarrassed.
“They all know that military dependents are well-off. Did you tell her you’re a military dependent?”
“Yes, I mentioned it just now.”
“That’s why she’s ripping you off.”
Another thing was that Qiao Wei had fair, delicate skin, and her accent made it obvious she was a city girl. In the old lady’s eyes, she was the typical youngster who couldn’t bring herself to haggle. If she didn’t rip her off, who would?
Qiao Wei asked humbly, “Then how much should it be?”
“Half a bowl of flour, or a steamed bun,” Yan Lei said. “No more than that.”
The non-staple food store also sold ready-made steamed buns. To make them look bigger, they were heavily leavened.
“Can you handle it? If not, I’ll go talk to her.” He made a move to get out of the water.
“Keep swimming, I’ll handle it myself.”
Qiao Wei carried Yan Xiang and hurried back.
Yan Lei watched her retreating back and smiled.
Qiao Wei carried Yan Xiang back to the small bamboo chair and said directly, “Auntie, let’s forget about what we just discussed.”
The old lady got anxious upon hearing this. “What’s wrong, girl? Didn’t we agree on it?”
Qiao Wei said, “My husband said two catties of white flour is practically highway robbery, and told me to find someone else.”
Having been seen through, the old lady didn’t feel ashamed at all. With the shrewdness that came with age, her expression didn’t even flicker. “Then let’s negotiate again. How about one catty?”
Qiao Wei said, “Half a bowl of flour, or a steamed bun. If not, then forget it.”
Knowing there was no more bargain to be had, the old lady smacked her lips. “A steamed bun it is, then.”
The deal was struck once more.
With the deal settled, the old lady looked out over the river and asked, “Is that your man?”
Qiao Wei smiled. “He’s my husband, the child’s father.”
“What a handsome young fellow,” the old lady clicked her tongue in admiration.
Qiao Wei asked the old lady for her name and address, and made an appointment: “I’ll bring the shoe soles and fabric over tomorrow morning.”
The old lady looked out over the river again and said leisurely, “Your man has a mighty fine body. You’re a lucky woman.”
In the river, Yan Lei
had swum to the deep end, moving swiftly through the waves like a fish.
The explosive power of his arm muscles was astonishing.
Qiao Wei pursed her lips and smiled.
The leisure time of the older women, who had to manage entire households of chores, came to an end as the sun began to sink in the west.
The old lady stood up and picked up her small stool. “…The second house in the alley, don’t get it wrong.”
“Alright,” Qiao Wei agreed.
The old ladies and young wives who had been enjoying the cool shade and doing needlework by the riverbank all stood up and left one by one.
Having swum to his heart’s content, Yan Lei only came ashore after seeing that there were no women left near Qiao Wei. He casually wiped himself down with a towel and pulled his clothes and pants straight over his swim trunks.
Qiao Wei was highly amused. “Your crotch is going to get wet in a minute.”
“That’s why we’re walking fast.” Yan Lei scooped up Yan Xiang under one arm and slung the small bamboo chair over his shoulder with the other. “Let’s go!”
“It’s wet, it’s wet!” Qiao Wei laughed all the way, scuffing her shoes as she walked, still teasing Yan Lei.
“Nonsense,” Yan Lei said to Yan Xiang. “Mom is lying.”
Yan Xiang craned his neck to take a look, then said seriously to Qiao Wei, “Mom, don’t lie. It’s not wet.”
Qiao Wei burst into laughter, adjusted her shoes, caught up to walk side-by-side with them, and asked Yan Lei, “Can I go swimming in the river?”
The river was full of men; she hadn’t seen a single woman.
Yan Lei was surprised. “You want to swim? That would have to be at night, after dark, and I’ll accompany you. But the water gets cold then; you might not be able to stand it.”
“Does it have to be at night?”
“…” Yan Lei replied, “Otherwise?”
Qiao Wei said, “Swimming pools don’t open at night.”
“I know, but that’s in the city,” Yan Lei said. “This small place can’t compare. If you went into the river during the day, the whole town would come to gawk at you, and they’d be pointing fingers at you from then on.”
That was indeed unavoidable. Such was the environment and customs of a small town.
“Alright then,” Qiao Wei could only say.
“There’s a swimming pool in the city. I’ve passed by it before. Many female comrades swim there,” Yan Lei said cautiously. “How about we find some time to go to the city?”
Qiao Wei glanced at him.
Although they hadn’t been together for very long, once people reached a certain level of intimacy, they could naturally sense each other’s tone of voice and underlying emotions.
Qiao Wei could feel that Yan Lei was being a bit cautious.
He seemed to worry even more now than before that she would look down on Xiahe Town for being a small place.
“No need,” Qiao Wei smiled slightly. “I was just speaking off the cuff.”
Yan Lei let out a sigh of relief.
Why was it that as they grew closer and their feelings deepened, he became even more prone to worrying about gains and losses than before?
On Monday, Qiao Wei brought along a pair of shoe soles when she went grocery shopping.
The soles were pre-stitched multi-layered soles, which she had bought along with some cloth shoes during the last market day. There were complete shoes available, as well as soles without uppers, allowing people to sew the uppers themselves.
A master tailor would certainly know how to do this job, but he wouldn’t take it.
After asking around, she found out there were no traditional shoemakers left in town. After all, shoes were basically industrialized now.
There was, however, a shoe repairman on the same street as the tailor, both located in Craft Alley. Qiao Wei had taken a look, but she felt his repair methods were rather crude. It wasn’t what she wanted.
She had always wanted to find a suitable person to help her make shoes, but lately she had been obsessed with painting
walls.
She hadn’t expected to find someone just by taking a stroll along the river on Sunday.
She first went to the market to buy vegetables, grab meat, and snatch some fruit. On her way back, she stopped by the old lady’s house and gave her the shoe soles and fabric.
The old lady’s surname was Lu. Her deceased husband was the eighth child in his family, so the neighbors called her Ba’er’s Wife.
“Plain ones don’t look good; that’s what we older folks wear,” Granny Lu asked. “Are you sure you don’t want any embroidery?”
Granny Lu was hoping that by adding embroidery, she could ask Qiao Wei for a bit more.
“No, I want them completely plain,” Qiao Wei insisted.
It wasn’t that she disliked embroidery. She was just worried that if she had them embroidered, they might become inappropriate to wear once the political atmosphere grew tense in the future.
Being simple was the safest.
When asked how long it would take, Granny Lu said, “Just swing by to pick them up tomorrow when you go grocery shopping.”
That was quite fast.
Qiao Wei went back happily.
After finishing lunch and tidying up, Yan Xiang began to yawn. Just as Qiao Wei was preparing to take him for a nap, Lin Xixi suddenly came to the door. “Auntie, Aunt Qiao.”
She was truly a rare guest.
After Lin Xixi figured things out, she had completely lost interest in Yan Lei, and seemed to have lost some enthusiasm for the life around her as well, just burying her head in work every day. Sometimes, looking through her young figure, Qiao Wei could almost see the image of a middle-aged woman who spent her whole life working and serving her husband’s family.
Why was she here?
“My aunt asked me to call you over to hang out.” It turned out Lin Xixi was here to deliver a message.
“Huh? Right now?” Qiao Wei was surprised.
“The aunts from Regimental Commander Ma’s, Battalion Commander Xue’s, and Battalion Commander Wang’s families have all come over to visit. My aunt asked me to call you over to join them.”
Oh~
Was this an invitation to join their women’s social circle?
Qiao Wei perked up.
She now fully understood why people of this era were so keen on visiting neighbors to socialize—because there really was no other form of entertainment. If only there were a television, but there wasn’t, there was absolutely nothing!
A radio was already the most advanced form of entertainment, and even then, there were only a handful of stations playing either red songs, traditional opera, or studies of the central government’s directives.
Now, Sister Yang had actively extended an olive branch, intending to bring her into their women’s social circle.
They were all cadres’ dependents; in later generations, this would be considered a “wives’ club.”
Qiao Wei pulled Lin Xixi and asked, “I haven’t visited neighbors much. Is there anything I should watch out for?”
This person would be a high-ranking official’s wife in the future.
Lin Xixi no longer had any hard feelings toward Qiao Wei, but she didn’t want to offend her either, so she told her, “Some of the aunts brought melon seeds, some brought peanuts…”
Qiao Wei understood and said, “Okay, you go back first. I’ll be right over.”
The fruit she had managed to grab today was plums. She washed half of them, put them in an enamel basin, and took Yan Xiang’s hand. “Come on, let’s go visiting!”
Just as she stepped out, she pulled her foot back, went into the room, grabbed a few candies, and stuffed them into Yan Xiang’s pocket. “If there are other kids there whom you like, you can share the candy with them. If you don’t like someone, you don’t have to give them any.”
Unexpectedly receiving extra candy, Yan Xiang was overjoyed. His yawns vanished, and he patted his bulging pocket. “Okay!”
The mother and son walked hand-in-hand to Regimental Commander Zhao’s house.
Sure enough, the low table used for dining in the summer had been pulled under the shade of the trees. Stools and folding stools were arranged in a circle around it, and the table was covered with melon
seeds, peanuts, shredded radish, and the like, with plenty of boiled water to go around.
This was a low-spec 1960s version of a tea party.
“Sister-in-law,” Qiao Wei said with a smile. “Sister-in-law Ma, Sister-in-law Xue, Sister-in-law Wang.”
Everyone greeted her, “Qiao, come quick.”
Northerners liked to swallow words when calling people. For example, when calling “Xiao Qiao,” they would swallow the “Xiao,” leaving only “Qiao.” So sometimes it sounded like they were just calling someone by their surname.
This was rarely done in later generations. A few days ago, Qiao Wei had felt quite unaccustomed to hearing people call Yan Lei “Yan” and her “Qiao,” but she had gotten used to it over the past few days.
Qiao Wei contributed the plums she had brought, placing them on the small table. Everyone cracked melon seeds and ate peanuts.
Sister Yang told Qiao Wei, “The few of us drop by each other’s places from time to time to chat and gossip. You’re young and might not be used to this, so we didn’t call you before.”
“Call me from now on. I’m bored out of my mind at home,” Qiao Wei said.
It was true. Now that she was done painting the walls, she had nothing to do. Every single corner of the house had been thoroughly cleaned; there really was nothing left to keep her busy.
She was so bored that she had even read the pig-raising manual, and desperately needed to find a way to pass the time.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do; every era had its own style.
Question the aunties, understand the aunties, and ultimately become one.
Besides, these women couldn’t really be considered “aunties” yet; by age, they were only older sisters. The wives of Battalion Commander Xue and Battalion Commander Wang were only four or five years older than her, and the two of them were about the same age as Yan Lei. Their husbands were a few years older than them.
In short, looking around their circle of acquaintances, Yan Lei was the youngest among the men, and Qiao Wei was the youngest among the wives.
As they cracked melon seeds, they chatted about daily life. From the Old District to the Residential Compound, from the Town Armed Forces Department to the Town Committee Office, from Old Li at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to Young Wang at the vegetable market, the gossip flowed one piece after another.
Qiao Wei listened with great relish.
Once the gossip was exhausted, they began to comment on Sister Yang’s house. “It looks just like new.”
“Maybe I should paint my house too.”
“How much whitewash does it take?”
“Qiao calculated it for me. Qiao, calculate it for them too.”
Using a Chung Hwa pencil and paper torn from some unknown child’s notebook, Qiao Wei asked about their houses. The rooms here were all roughly the same size, so she just needed to know how many rooms there were to estimate the amount needed.
She wrote it down for all of them, tore the sheet of paper into strips, and as the tea party broke up, each of them took a strip, stuffed it into their pockets, and went home.
Yan Xiang had been playing inside with Junzi and Wu Nier. After Qiao Wei helped Sister Yang clean up the mess and sweep the floor, she went inside to check, only to find the three children fast asleep on the kang, sprawled in all directions.
Sister Yang said, “Leave a bit later, once the child wakes up. Otherwise, he might easily get startled.”
They went back to the yard to chat.
“The others even made fun of me, saying I painted the walls as soon as we got a raise,” Sister Yang chuckled, covering her mouth. “They asked why I didn’t just rebuild the house.”
Qiao Wei grinned. “If building a house were that simple, we would have done it.”
Sister Yang said sheepishly, “I didn’t think much of it before they said anything, I just saw how bright and spacious your house looked after you painted it. But now that they’ve mentioned it, I do feel a bit…”
“How can they say that?” Qiao Wei chided. “Even if it’s to celebrate Brother Zhao’s raise, why shouldn’t you? Good news puts people in high spirits. The more you look forward to good things, the more good things will come your way.”
“This isn’t feudal superstition; it’s an attitude toward life. The more positive a person’s attitude is, the higher their chances of success. When things are done well, doesn’t it naturally feel like good things are finding their own way to you?”
“The better it gets, the better it gets.”
These words were music to her ears.
Sister Yang clapped her hands. “Exactly!”
Once Yan Xiang woke up, they prepared to head back. Qiao Wei said, “Sister-in-law, call me next time too.”
Sister Yang said, “In the Old District, our men are all Division Commander Pan’s people. We should visit each other more often. I’ve wanted to invite you for a long time, but I was afraid you’d look down on us and we wouldn’t have anything to talk about.”
So there was actually this layer of connection. Qiao Wei had naively thought everyone shared the same simple comrade-in-arms relationship.
No wonder Yan Lei had always hoped she could get along well with the people around her!
