Chapter 73
The atomic bomb is not scary; there are many ways to defend against it.
Seeing a flash is the signal; use the terrain to lie down quickly.
Cross your hands under your chest, close your eyes, pull in your stomach, and open your mouth.
Qiao Wei: “…”
Qiao Wei flipped through it casually and found such hardcore content, complete with clear illustrations.
Qiao Wei closed the book and took another look at the cover: militia training manual》.
The name was outrageously rustic, but the content was shockingly hardcore.
It focused on the wasteland genre, rebuilding the country from scratch after world nuclear peace.
It was very much like some web novels from the future that engaged in title fraud—either making you miss it at a glance or luring you in to kill you.
People in this era thought about things differently than those in the future. The clouds of war always hung in the sky, and everything was based on the premise of “what if the enemy drops a nuclear bomb on me one day.”
On one hand, there was infantry-tank coordination and dodging nuclear explosions. On the other, there was cleaning guns, planting mines, and digging latrines.
This book covered almost everything in the military field. It was profound yet simple, using the most rustic and basic language to teach you step-by-step how to counter the most advanced and powerful weapons in the world at the time.
As long as you could read, it could teach you. In the transmigrator circle, it was called the transmigrator’s bible; with this book in hand, you could walk sideways in the apocalypse.
Although Qiao Wei had heard of this divine book in some novels, this was the first time she had seen the real thing, and it was more shocking than the novels described.
Yan Xiang called it “really interesting.”
militia training manual》, 《Friend of Military and Civilian Dual-Use Talents》, and 《Barefoot Doctor》 were collectively known as the three divine books of transmigration.
But actually, the last time Qiao Wei went to the county bookstore, what she really wanted to buy was another thick book, which was also a divine book: this era’s 《One Hundred Thousand Whys》.
This one also had high acclaim online. It was completely different from the book with the same name in the future; it could be described as all-encompassing, still following the wasteland genre, focusing on restarting civilization.
But Qiao Wei circled the bookstore and didn’t find any of these books. The clerk hadn’t even heard of the 《Modern Chinese Dictionary》. Qiao Wei didn’t dare to ask further, guessing that the year might be wrong and these books hadn’t been published yet.
Qiao Wei asked Lu Tianming: “Do bookstores have this kind of book?”
Lu Tianming said: “How would a bookstore have them? These are worker-peasant-soldier reading materials issued from above.”
So that was it. No wonder the militia training manual》 was in the Library of the Town Committee Residential Compound.
She flipped to the back cover and took a look; it was published in the late fifties.
She didn’t know if the others had been published. But it didn’t matter; those books were similar in nature to this one and likely also belonged to the worker-peasant-soldier reading materials. If they were published, they would sooner or later appear in the Library of the Town Committee Residential Compound, so she just needed to keep an eye out.
She glanced at Yan Xiang, who was looking at her, his lips moving.
Yan Xiang wanted to tell Qiao Wei that there were many things mentioned in this book that he really wanted to know more about.
Qiao Wei seemed to understand what he wanted to say, and she gave him a look. Mother and son had a tacit understanding, so Yan Xiang didn’t speak.
In the original text, Yan Xiang actually never communicated these inner thoughts with others.
But Qiao Wei had come to this world and changed the course of events.
Yan Xiang was willing to tell his mother all his inner thoughts. But they had to wait until they got home; there were too many people in the office.
In the evening at home, the mother and son finally had a private chat.
Yan Xiang liked that book.
Qiao Wei could understand. The language in that book looked rustic, but it actually contained a huge amount of information.
Yan Xiang asked about the atomic bomb: “Is it that powerful?”
“It is the most powerful weapon right now,” Qiao Wei said. “One atomic bomb can destroy a city. Country M dropped two in Country R, destroying two cities.”
Worry appeared on Yan Xiang’s small face.
“Mom. The imperialists will never give up their ambition to destroy us. What should we do?” the child asked.
She had been studying the Great Man’s thoughts seriously these days. Yan Lei was her study buddy.
But when they studied together, Qiao Wei asked Yan Xiang to listen in.
Sure enough, he took it in.
“Don’t be afraid,” Qiao Wei kissed his forehead. “We have them too.”
“Last year we tested it successfully, and the news reported it; our country has atomic bombs too. The imperialists are afraid that we will throw atomic bombs at them, so they dare not throw them at us first. We both have them, and neither will throw them first. As long as we keep having them, our country will always be safe.”
“This, having them but not throwing them, is called deterrence.”
“Then there won’t be any more wars?”
“There will still be fighting. Our country is surrounded by too many countries; there are many big and small wars to fight. But don’t be afraid; we will become stronger and stronger, and we will build more guns and cannons. Truth lies only within the range of the cannons.”
There was light in Yan Xiang’s eyes.
“Mom, when I grow up, I want to build guns and cannons to make the country stronger, so that no foreign country will dare to attack us!”
Qiao Wei’s eyes curved with a smile: “Alright, then hurry up and grow up.”
She kissed the child’s forehead and coaxed him to sleep.
Back in the bedroom, Qiao Wei chatted with Yan Lei about the morning bike ride: “…The sunlight was so good, the breeze blowing on my face, and poplar trees on both sides of the road.”
“Do you know about the Tyndall effect?”
“…Then the light had a shape.”
“Mmph!”
Her mouth was blocked, and she couldn’t speak anymore.
After their intimacy, she lay on his chest with her eyes closed. Yan Lei asked: “You like bicycles that much?”
In the other life, they were things that filled the streets, and you could ride them by scanning a code.
Here, everything was different.
Qiao Wei said lazily: “It’s not that I like bicycles, it’s that I like mornings with good sunshine, riding on the country roads.”
And the morning breeze blowing on my face.
Yan Lei thought, isn’t that just liking bicycles? Even if it’s not liking the bicycle itself, you have to have a bicycle to have this feeling.
He patted her back gently: “I know…”
Qiao Wei fell asleep in his arms.
On Saturday, Qiao Wei turned on the broadcast, and when she came out, she couldn’t see Yan Xiang.
“Where is Yan Xiang?”
“Manman took him to watch them print leaflets.”
“Ah, the wax stencil one? I haven’t seen it either. Why didn’t they wait for me to go together!”
Everyone laughed to death.
Hu Sui scolded her: “How old are you? You’re already a mother.”
“Mothers have curiosity too.”
Laughter continued in the office. Qiao Wei waited for the broadcast to end, quickly turned off the machine, and went to the Propaganda Section to watch the fun.
When she got there, she saw everyone surrounding Yan Xiang to watch the fun.
Little Yan Xiang stood on a chair, looking serious as he took the roller to roll the ink. Roll once, print one; roll once, print one.
By accident, he got a streak of black ink on his cheek.
“Yan Xiang, what are you doing?” Qiao Wei was overjoyed.
Yan Xiang raised the ink roller: “I am printing.”
Everyone laughed: “If he wants to do it, let him do it.”
“It’s great that Yan Xiang is here; it saves the uncles and aunts some trouble.”
“Keep up the good work!”
“Go for it!”
Qiao Wei lifted Yan Xiang down from the chair and said very seriously: “Didn’t I tell you not to disturb the uncles and aunts?”
Yan Xiang defended himself: “I’m not disturbing them, I’m helping.”
“This needs to print many copies; the child is too slow, so let the adults help.”
The unscrupulous mother spoke righteously and shamelessly snatched the roller from the child’s hand: “Let me do it.”
Yan Xiang: “…”
Lu Manman laughed to death: “Weiwei, you haven’t played with this before?”
Qiao Wei said: “I’ve never even seen it.”
She understood the principle of this thing. The wax stencil was paper covered with a thick layer of wax. It was probably written or carved on with a wire or a special “pen.”
Then it was attached to a special toolbox. The lid held the wax stencil, and the box held the white paper. Ink was brushed into the strokes, and then the lid was closed and pressed to print the content carved on the wax stencil onto the paper.
Lift the lid, take the printed page to the side. Then print the next one.
It was quite stress-relieving.
Anyway, Qiao Wei had a lot of fun.
Yan Xiang looked on eagerly: “Mom, I also…”
“Two more pages, I’ll give it to you in two more pages.”
“That’s already several ‘two pages’.”
The people in the Propaganda Section laughed to death.
There were no printers in this era; daily internal printed materials were all mimeographed using wax stencils. The people in the Propaganda Section bore this responsibility, and they were sick of brushing these things.
To think someone was fighting to do it.
After letting Yan Xiang play for a while longer, she returned the tools to the people in the Propaganda Section.
Qiao Wei: “I won’t hold you up anymore.”
They were amateurs after all, and their efficiency was far inferior to the pros in the Propaganda Section.
Propaganda Section colleague: Oh no, actually…
Qiao Wei and Lu Manman took a few copies of the printed materials. This was the specific arrangement for the mosquito eradication campaign issued from above. They had to take it back to start the broadcast promotion.
The two of them took Yan Xiang back to the Broadcasting Station together.
The people in the Propaganda Section had to reluctantly start printing again themselves.
“You have to say, Qiao Wei’s son is really cute. So sensible.”
“I heard that only this one is her biological child, and the previous five were brought over by her previous husband.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Today was Saturday, the last day of Qiao Wei’s shift. Tomorrow was Sunday, and it would be Lu Manman’s turn again.
On Sunday, the pre-booked masonry team arrived with a horse cart.
They brought two cartloads of yellow soil and seven or eight men.
Qiao Wei asked quietly: “Do we need to provide meals?”
Yan Lei said: “No, it was agreed that they would take care of their own lunch.”
Qiao Wei went to communicate with the masons. The masons understood her intention: “Just cover it up to make it look like a mud-brick house?”
The men couldn’t help but think this woman… was quite fussy.
Yes, the wall was patched up a bit ugly, but it wasn’t like it was uninhabitable. And they had to spend money to plaster mud to cover it.
The key was, they felt that plastering yellow mud was actually not as good as just leaving it as is. Although the wall was a bit shabby, a stone house was ultimately higher class than a mud-brick house.
They didn’t have much guile, so their thoughts inevitably showed on their faces.
Qiao Wei saw it.
“The main thing is,” she said, “warmth. The stone house is too cold; I can’t stand it. Adding a layer of yellow mud on the outside acts as an insulation layer.”
This explanation was much easier to accept.
Seeing that she spoke like a city person and Yan Lei didn’t look like he was from the countryside at all, the masons thought they didn’t know anything and specially told them: “The flue of the kang must not be cleared properly. It must be cleaned out before winter starts, so it will be warm when you burn it in winter.”
“Okay, we will definitely clean it out when the time comes,” Qiao Wei replied.
The craftsmen set up ladders to work.
It was agreed that they would provide their own lunch, but the fellow villagers only brought pancakes and ate them rolled with green onions.
Qiao Wei thought it looked quite dry. Just then, water was boiling on the stove, so she cracked three eggs and stirred them into egg drop soup. She also threw in some shredded pickled vegetables and small green vegetables—grown by Yan Lei himself—and boiled them together in the pot. As soon as the water boiled, it was ready. She brought it out for everyone to drink: “Come, come, have some soup.”
The craftsmen were very happy and took their own tin mugs to scoop up the soup to drink; it was better than chewing dry pancakes with plain water.
After they were full, they worked even harder than in the morning.
When the sun tilted west, the work was finished.
The entire outer wall of the house was plastered with yellow mud.
Perhaps because of Qiao Wei’s pot of egg drop soup, the craftsmen worked very carefully, plastering it very meticulously and smoothly.
Qiao Wei stood in the courtyard with her hands on her hips, looking up, very satisfied; it was exactly the look she wanted.
Now the mud was not completely dry, and the color was slightly darker. The craftsmen said that when it was completely dry, it would be the light earthy yellow she wanted.
Under the earthen wall, there were two bamboo lounge chairs, and three cushions were temporarily placed flat on the cool bed, but one could still see that the color and material matched the yellow earthen wall very well.
Pure rustic style.
Looking to the side, Yan Lei was leaning over, hands on hips, examining the renovated house.
“It’s like the house at my home,” he seemed very nostalgic.
His eyes were filled with mixed sorrow and joy.
Humans are truly complex animals.
Yan Lei came from the countryside; deep down, he longed for big cities and had been working hard in that direction all along.
But in his bones, he was still attached to the countryside. Looking at this imitation mud-brick house, he felt incomparably close to it.
