Chapter 59
The chicken was stewing in the iron pot on the firewood stove.
Yan Lei spent the entire morning finally finishing that agricultural technical manual.
He had been reading it on and off for several days.
He seemed to really like it; the Huaxia bloodline in his bones was truly strong.
“We should buy a few more of these books,” he said. “Our country is a major agricultural nation; we must never forget our roots.”
He also wanted to say that this book should be saved for Yan Xiang to read later, but the original owner’s deep-seated hatred for the countryside was too strong, so he stopped at that and swallowed the words like “save it for Yan Xiang.”
He did not know that Yan Xiang had already read it.
Yan Xiang was already reading that pig farming manual.
Qiao Wei did not let Yan Xiang read these books when Yan Lei was at home.
Genius Prodigy, male lead, original female lead, cannon fodder female supporting character, extras… these were all trans-dimensional concepts. Qiao Wei did not intend to let Yan Lei know.
She discussed the exterior walls of the house with Yan Lei.
“Loess?” Yan Lei was slightly stunned.
“It’s that kind of soil that is light yellow when it dries completely. You should know it, right?” Qiao Wei asked.
Yan Lei certainly knew: “You want a mud-brick house?”
The countryside, especially the northern countryside, was full of mud-brick houses. That was the environment Yan Lei had seen since he was a child—no, the environment he grew up in.
And because of that, he could understand it even less.
If one had the ability, who wouldn’t want to build a brick-and-tile house? Who would be willing to continue living in a mud-brick house?
The house they were living in now was a traditional local stone house. Although it couldn’t compare to a red brick house with large tiles, it was much better than a mud-brick house. Even in the old society, this was something only well-off families could afford.
Regardless of the new society or the old society, mud-brick houses were a choice made because of poverty, because one lacked the ability to build a brick house.
Yan Lei tried to persuade Qiao Wei: “If you dislike how ugly this wall is, how about we paint the exterior walls white too?”
Actually, if it were in later generations, creating a rural courtyard and painting the exterior walls white would also be quite good-looking.
But that would be in later generations. In the current special era, if you painted the exterior walls white, Qiao Wei was very worried about what might happen. If someone saw your exterior wall was white, they might end up painting large slogans on it.
Really, there was no way to guarantee that this wouldn’t happen. Qiao Wei even felt that if the exterior walls were really painted white, the possibility of being painted with slogans later would be quite high.
That would be heartbreaking.
Very heartbreaking.
So, when Qiao Wei was racking her brains thinking about how to beautify this shabby, patch-like exterior wall, she remembered a rural homestay she had visited.
That homestay was in an ancient village.
The exterior walls were all light yellow mud walls, imitating a mud-brick house. The actual house was newly built, and the interior was also finely decorated. Only the facade was imitated.
But it was beautiful.
Very rustic, very beautiful.
People in the metropolis of the internet age could appreciate this kind of beauty.
Yan Lei was very conflicted.
Because it is hard to find something beautiful when it represents “poverty” and “suffering” that you have been accustomed to since childhood.
“Have you really thought it through?” he asked.
“Yes!”
“Why can’t we paint it white? Look at the inside of the house, isn’t it quite nice painted white?”
Qiao Wei thought for a moment and told Yan Lei her concerns about painting the exterior walls white.
Yan Lei said: “That shouldn’t happen. This is inside our own courtyard…”
Qiao Wei said: “Hard to say.”
She asked: “If it gets painted with slogans, can you paint over them?”
Yan Lei’s voice came to an abrupt halt.
If it really got painted with slogans, it would have political significance, so of course, you couldn’t proactively paint over it.
Unless you were going to change to new slogans, or it was already ruined by wind and sun and the wall needed to be repainted.
In any case, you definitely couldn’t proactively and actively paint over slogans that had already been painted.
Yan Lei was already a regimental-level cadre, so of course he could understand some subtle rules.
Qiao Wei said: “I heard about this incident. There was a female cadre. She was quite good, but she offended a villain. Those people wanted to frame her. They found an excuse to lock her in a room, deliberately locking the door but leaving the window. This female cadre was locked in for a day and a night and was starving, so she tore off the paper pasted on the window and climbed out the window to go home.”
“She was illiterate. The paper was printed with quotations from the Great Leader. Not only was it thrown on the ground, but there were also footprints on several sheets.”
“She was originally innocent, but this turned her into a criminal.”
Yan Lei’s face became serious and stern: “Where did this happen? When did it happen? What was her name?”
This was actually a plot from a period drama Qiao Wei had watched.
“Don’t worry about where or who it is. It has nothing to do with us. It’s not something happening now; it happened a long time ago. It might not even be a true story,” Qiao Wei said. “I just wanted to say that I just want to make the house look nicer. I’m afraid that if I paint it white, it might get painted with slogans later, and that would be hard to deal with. I’m not choosing the big white wall because I don’t want to leave any possibility for such things to happen.”
“Alright, do whatever you want,” Yan Lei said. “It can also match your straw hat and straw sandals, right?”
Qiao Wei smiled, showing her teeth.
“Are you…” Yan Lei deliberated for a moment, but still said it, “I’ve been thinking, are you trying to make the house look like it’s in the countryside?”
Yan Lei had vaguely felt this for a long time, but always felt it was absurd. It wasn’t until Qiao Wei said she wanted to make the exterior walls look like a mud-brick house that he finally confirmed it.
Qiao Wei was slightly surprised, then smiled even more happily.
“There is a word that is much more beautiful than the word ‘countryside’.”
“Which one?”
“Pastoral.”
Pastoral. Yan Lei chewed on this word, which wasn’t used often in daily life, and savored it.
“This word sounds a bit wrong. It loses the essence of simplicity.”
Qiao Wei, however, said: “If the ‘essence of simplicity’ you speak of refers to poverty, hardship, and tragedy, then that essence is better off without.”
“Poverty is a phenomenon, an objective situation, but it is by no means a goal.”
“Our socialist country is indeed still poor compared to Western countries. But this is because we have experienced a century of accumulated poverty and weakness and have only just started, while the Western robbers have been plundering for over a century.”
“Our socialist country will definitely be able to completely eliminate poverty, build major roads to the entrance of every village, let every child receive at least nine years of free school education, and let the common people afford medical care and food. Let all the countryside become pastoral.”
Yan Lei had been married for several years, and this was the first time he saw such a firm gaze in his wife’s eyes.
She seemed to believe firmly in the future she described.
Yan Lei had always felt that she had serious petty-bourgeois thoughts, but now he realized he was wrong. Her belief in the motherland was just as firm as his.
Yan Lei was extremely gratified.
As a man, he could actually tolerate many areas where his wife conflicted with him.
But as a firm communist warrior, having a spouse with backward thoughts and low consciousness would really make him feel disappointed and painful.
“Alright, if you want to do it, then do it.” He agreed to Qiao Wei’s plan.
But he stepped back a few steps into the courtyard, put his hands on his hips, and looked up at the whole house.
“This is a big project. You can’t do it alone, and relying on me alone won’t work either. We must find an expert.”
“Ah, can’t we do it ourselves?” The person who had just been high-minded and profound fell into her own knowledge blind spot. “Can’t we, like painting a wall, do a little bit every day?”
“No,” Yan Lei said. “What is being pasted on is mud, and it only becomes the yellow soil you want when it dries. With such a large area, if you don’t finish it all at once, some parts will be completely dry while others are just being done, and it will crack over time.”
“Understood.” Qiao Wei did not dwell on it and said readily, “Then where should we find someone?”
“I’ll go. Find a nearby commune. Communes all have their own masonry teams. For mud-brick houses, city masons actually won’t work; you have to find them from the countryside.”
“But not now, it’s the ‘double rush’ season. If there’s heavy rain in a few days, the Military Unit officers and soldiers will have to be sent out to help the fellow villagers.”
“Wait until the ‘double rush’ is over, during the slack farming season, I’ll find someone for you.”
Qiao Wei asked: “Will you find it troublesome?”
Because painting the inside of the house white only required him to help move the furniture, and everything else was done by Qiao Wei herself. The cost was also low.
But with the exterior wall being done like this, there was no need to think to know the cost would go up. It was no longer a DIY job at home, but a big project.
Yan Lei said: “Whether it’s troublesome or not is for me to worry about. Instead of worrying about this, why don’t you think about how to answer when people ask why you are pasting loess on a perfectly fine town house.”
Qiao Wei smiled slyly: “Because the wife and children at home are afraid of the cold, so we are thickening the walls for insulation. Pasting mud bricks is cheaper than other methods.”
“Well made up,” Yan Lei praised her. “I almost believed it.”
Qiao Wei laughed out loud.
After laughing, she said: “Regardless of what others guess, my pastoral aesthetic is invincible right now. Who would dare not praise me for being hardworking and frugal, and having a touching style.”
Yan Lei remembered her set of homespun clothes, which were so simple that even Regimental Commander Zhao was worried about whether the family was in economic difficulty. No one would have guessed it was because she thought they looked good.
Thinking of this, Yan Lei couldn’t help but laugh.
Only Yan Xiang asked: “Dad, is the chicken ready?”
It was too fragrant; he had been drooling.
“Let me check, hmm, it’s almost ready. Wait for Dad to make you a few pancakes.” Yan Lei shouted, “Qiao Wei— Qiao Wei—”
Qiao Wei followed into the kitchen: “What’s wrong?”
Yan Lei ladled a bowl of chicken and chicken soup: “Send a bowl to Old Zhao’s house. You go or I go?”
Qiao Wei’s eyes showed confusion.
Yan Lei paused and explained: “The village is all like this. When you eat something good, you fill a bowl for relatives or neighbors you have a good relationship with.”
His hometown and Regimental Commander Zhao’s hometown were in the same region, and the customs were the same.
“Relationships need to be maintained. If you don’t maintain them, even if you live close, people will become distant,” he said.
Qiao Wei was then activated with memories of refusing such things before.
The ecology in the city was different; there were no such rules. Qiao Wei also hated being too intimate with these people.
Yan Lei had actually always hoped that his spouse wouldn’t be smooth and sophisticated, but at least could get along well with comrades and neighbors. Unfortunately, he had always been disappointed.
He had already given up, but now, he quietly had expectations in his heart again.
“Understood, I’ll go,” Qiao Wei said happily.
Although she hadn’t experienced it, to her, this was a very lively traditional custom. This in itself was a part of “pastoral”.
Qiao Wei had good acceptance.
“I’m going too.” Yan Xiang followed and joined in.
So, Qiao Wei took Yan Xiang and carried a bowl of chicken to Regimental Commander Zhao’s house.
It was really interesting.
What was even more interesting was that when they arrived at Regimental Commander Zhao’s house—
The entire Zhao family, except for Wu Nier, everyone, including Junzi and Lin Xixi, were collectively mobilized, the whole family was out, and they were enthusiastically painting their own house white.
Qiao Wei was amused.
She shouted: “Sister-in-law—”
“I’m here to share something delicious~!”
