Chapter 25
When Qiao Wei woke up the next morning, she wanted to turn over but couldn’t; there was an arm wrapped around her waist.
Just as she was about to get up, that arm tightened and pulled her back.
The man’s kiss fell on her back shoulder.
Dazed, Qiao Wei patted the hand resting on her waist. “I’m not making breakfast today…”
“It’s fine, I’ll eat at the Battalion Headquarters Cafeteria. You guys can eat at the Residential Compound Cafeteria,” the man replied, not minding.
Qiao Wei hummed in response and was about to fall back asleep when her mind suddenly cleared. She slapped him repeatedly. “Let go quickly! I need to change my paper, or else I’ll stain the bedsheets!”
Qiao Wei could even accept dry latrines, but she was truly defeated by female sanitary products.
There were no sanitary pads, none at all!
Female menstrual products back then were a kind of rectangular “dao paper” similar to toilet paper, colored pink. Qiao Wei hadn’t slept well today because she had instinctively woken up twice last night, realizing she had to change her paper, and was forced to get up to do so. Her sleep had been chopped into several segments, making it impossible for her to get up in the morning.
She climbed up, put on her clothes, and turned around only to see what was spread on the bed. “Huh? This is…”
She almost asked what it was.
The details of daily life had already become instinctive for a person, a bodily memory that didn’t need to be consciously remembered. Thus, memories of daily life details were not easily triggered and were much slower to surface than memories of major events.
Fortunately, the memory was activated in time. Spread on the bed was a small mattress pad, specifically used during menstruation to prevent staining the bedsheets. This was because if the bedsheets, especially the large mattress underneath, got dirty, they would be very troublesome to wash. This kind of small pad was relatively easy to remove and wash.
“No wonder I felt something last night,” Qiao Wei muttered.
She hadn’t turned on the bedroom light at night; she had turned on the desk lamp in the study to change her paper, then turned off the light before entering the bedroom. Indeed, in her daze back then, she had felt something spread on the bed.
But she hadn’t spread it. When she got onto the brick bed yesterday, there was only a straw mat on it.
“I spread it for you,” Yan Lei said as he sat up to look for his clothes.
For the past two days, he had slept wearing a tank top. Last night, Qiao Wei had pulled it off, so he slept bare-chested. As he got up, his muscles were clearly defined.
Qiao Wei’s gaze swept over the man’s lean waist. She put on her clothes, leaned over, and quickly planted a kiss on his cheek. “Thanks!”
After the kiss, feeling as if she was about to have a heavy flow, she hurriedly went out.
Yan Lei propped himself up on the brick bed, leaning back as he watched her figure disappear.
Even now, he still felt a bit like last night was a dream.
He had never had such an experience in his life; it was the very first time.
A grown man who had suffered poverty and hunger, been to the battlefield, carried cannons and taken bullets, and fought with bayonets against enemies, had actually been so hot-headed and unable to control himself last night like a green young lad.
But… she was his wife. What did it matter even if he lost control in front of her?
Yan Lei smiled, rubbed his face, and got out of bed too.
Opening the door to the yard, his mood was as fresh and bright as the morning light.
Qiao Wei, however, was not bright at all, let alone fresh. The experience of using the pink dao paper was simply terrible. She had padded a thick stack of it. The menstrual belt was even more super uncomfortable.
It was truly depressing.
Yan Lei washed his face, wiped away the water, and asked with concern, “What’s wrong? Does your stomach hurt?”
In the Military Unit,
female soldiers, just like female workers, enjoyed “li jia” (regular leave). Yes, the reason menstruation was called “li jia” was because working women could enjoy a two-day leave when they got their period, and this leave was called “li jia.”
The Military Unit also had female soldiers, and some of them would get stomachaches, their faces pale when they asked for leave. As a leader, Yan Lei was aware of this.
“Not really,” Qiao Wei sighed. “It’s just uncomfortable.”
Yan Lei had also seen menstrual belts and dao paper before; no one could possibly be comfortable with such a thing strapped on. But there was really nothing he could do to help with this, so he could only comfort her, “If you’re uncomfortable, go lie down in the room.”
After thinking about it, he added, “Don’t cook today. Eat at the Cafeteria. Don’t cook tonight either; I’ll bring food back for you from the Cafeteria.”
During her period, Qiao Wei didn’t want to do any of this work at all. In her original world, she could have just ordered takeout. There was no takeout here, but fortunately, there was still the Cafeteria.
She happily agreed, “Okay.”
She even actively went to prepare the lunchboxes. Aluminum lunchboxes were something every household had several of. She took them all out, packed them in a mesh bag, and handed them to Yan Lei. “Pack the rice and the dishes separately.”
Yan Lei said, “Got it,” and left carrying the mesh bag.
When he reached the intersection to get on the vehicle, Regimental Commander Zhao also arrived.
Seeing Yan Lei carrying several lunchboxes in his hand, he asked, “What’s this for?”
Yan Lei said, “We’re not cooking tonight. I’m bringing food back from the Cafeteria for them.”
Having been warned by her uncle, Lin Xixi didn’t dare to come out to bring Yan Lei breakfast today. However, Regimental Commander Zhao still had this matter on his mind.
He deliberately asked, “Have you eaten breakfast?”
When Yan Lei replied, “Not yet, I’m going to eat at the Cafeteria,” he immediately said, “Look at that, your sister-in-law was still worrying about you when I left, saying she was afraid Little Yan wouldn’t have breakfast. It’s my fault. I told her that Yan’s wife is there, so she didn’t need to worry. If I had known, I would have brought some for you.”
No matter what his niece said, he had to help solidify the idea that it was Sister Yang who cared about Yan Lei, not Lin Xixi, to avoid affecting his niece’s reputation.
Actually, Yan Lei didn’t think much of it at all. He was comrades-in-arms with Regimental Commander Zhao and called Sister Yang “sister-in-law.” In Yan Lei’s eyes, their niece Lin Xixi was just a junior.
He genuinely considered himself an elder.
He smiled and politely declined, “Sister-in-law doesn’t need to worry about me; it’s not like I don’t have a wife. My wife is feeling unwell today, so I didn’t let her make breakfast.”
Regimental Commander Zhao thought to himself, *Just keep slapping your own face to look fat. Who doesn’t know your wife is a lazy woman who makes you eat at the Cafeteria every day, making you live like a bachelor.*
But one shouldn’t slap someone’s face or expose their shortcomings, not to mention he was covering up a lie for his niece. He quickly followed Yan Lei’s words, “Exactly. Old women just love to poke their noses into other people’s business. It makes it look bad for Xiao Qiao. I’ll lecture her when I get back.”
As soon as Regimental Commander Zhao said this, the other few people naturally looked over at Yan Lei.
In the past, when others said such things to Yan Lei, he would usually remain silent or just laugh it off. Qiao Weiwei didn’t have a good reputation among the military dependents, and her poor interpersonal relations were not a matter of a day or two; it was an objective fact.
But yesterday, Yan Lei and the reborn Qiao Wei had entered a brand-new stage. He was still savoring last night’s intimate whispers and passionate kisses in his mind.
He deeply felt that Qiao Wei had truly changed since she came back, and he genuinely wanted to live a good life with her. Hearing others belittle Qiao Wei in their words made Yan Lei
feel resistant, unwilling to let others look down on Qiao Wei like this.
“Sister-in-law is good in every way,” he said, “but worrying too much isn’t good. My wife is indeed a bit delicate, but who told her to be a city person? Reputation doesn’t matter. Since she followed me, I promised not to let her suffer. Whether she cooks or not is no big deal; it’s not like we can’t eat at the Cafeteria.”
Although Yan Lei spoke with a smile, Regimental Commander Zhao and the others could hear that his tone was different from before.
A subtle difference.
Yan Lei was the youngest among the regimental commanders, but he had left home at fourteen, and his life experience was not a bit less than that of Regimental Commander Zhao or Regimental Commander Ma. Moreover, they were of the same rank, and his rank was even higher than the two battalion commanders.
Becoming a regimental commander at such a young age, his future prospects were probably the best among them.
So, although Regimental Commander Zhao and Regimental Commander Ma called him “Little Yan” because of his youth, no one could truly treat him as an inexperienced youngster.
It was truly strange. Everyone knew that Yan Lei and his wife didn’t have a good relationship, so why was he suddenly being so protective of her?
What else could Regimental Commander Zhao say? He was already feeling guilty because of Lin Xixi’s ambiguous behavior, so he could only solidify his wife’s “meddling”: “Exactly, exactly. I’ll lecture her when I get back.”
The men got into the vehicle one by one, just like any other morning.
But just as Driver Zhang released the clutch and stepped on the gas to start, he glanced in the rearview mirror and suddenly said, “Regimental Commander Zhao, is that your niece?”
“Huh?” Regimental Commander Zhao craned his neck to look. “Where? Where is she?”
“She’s gone. I saw her in the rearview mirror just now,” Driver Zhang muttered. “I might have seen wrong.”
“Old Zhao’s niece is quite pretty,” Regimental Commander Ma asked with a smile. “Is she betrothed? Do you want to recruit a niece’s husband in the Military Unit?”
“Yes, yes,” Regimental Commander Zhao pulled out cigarettes to distribute to everyone. “Keep an eye out for me, everyone. If anyone has an outstanding young fellow under them, save him for my family.”
Everyone laughed.
Yan Lei took the cigarette. Whether Lin Xixi had actually appeared outside the vehicle just now or if Driver Zhang had misseen had nothing to do with him. But seeing Driver Zhang looking back through the rearview mirror out of the corner of his eye, he understood. He chin-nudged toward the driver’s seat and smiled, “Then why don’t you take a look at our Xiao Zhang first?”
Knowing how to drive was a skill, a promising trade that could put food on the table. Even if he demobilized in the future, he wouldn’t have to worry about finding a job. Xiao Zhang was also quite decent-looking, so he could be considered a high-quality young man.
Regimental Commander Zhao laughed heartily. “We have to look at all of them. A daughter is sought after by a hundred families, and even when buying something, you have to compare between shops, right?”
Everyone laughed. Driver Zhang also chuckled, “Hehehehe.”
The jeep carried the men toward the Battalion Headquarters.
Driver Zhang hadn’t misseen; who he had seen just now was indeed Lin Xixi.
Lin Xixi poked her head out again. The green jeep, trailing dust and smoke, had already gone far. That was close; she was almost seen by her uncle just now.
She watched the vehicle recede and bit her lip.
Although they lived very close, she didn’t have many opportunities to see Yan Lei, so how could she develop a relationship with him?
She thought back to what she had just seen: several men all wearing green military uniforms, but Yan Lei was the tallest, the youngest, and the most handsome.
He was only in his twenties, yet he could ride in a car just like those middle-aged men. From Lin Xixi’s perspective of living a second life, she naturally understood who among those men had a more promising future.
This was also proven later on.
How hateful that she was young and ignorant back then. With such a wonderful marriage right before her eyes, she had actually disdained him for being older and a divorcé.
She was so foolish when she was young, chasing after love. When they got old, weren’t they all the same greasy, awful men? They didn’t earn much money, and when they got home, they just lay there like corpses, doing no work at all.
When Yan Lei got old, he would travel in a private car with bodyguards by his side. What grand style that was!
Thinking about how she wasn’t even willing to come for a blind date with Yan Lei in her past life, and how Yan Lei had married some unknown woman for his second marriage, letting another woman take the position of an official’s wife in her stead, Lin Xixi’s eyes turned red.
How could she get rid of that Qiao Weiwei, who should have died but hadn’t, and who knew if she had also been reborn?
Lin Xixi hurriedly returned to Regimental Commander Zhao’s home. Sister Yang was pulling Yingzi and asking, “Where is your sister?”
Just as she finished asking, she saw Lin Xixi returning from outside. Sister Yang asked, “Where did you go?”
Lin Xixi was very calm and said with a grin, “I went to look at the jeep.”
She went over and affectionately took Sister Yang’s arm. “Aunt, I saw that the driver is quite young. Does he pick up and drop off my uncle and the others for work every day? What is his last name again?”
“Zhang,” Sister Yang said. “That Xiao Zhang is very promising, knowing how to drive. In the future, whether he gets promoted in the Military Unit or gets demobilized, he will always have a way to make a living.”
“I saw that the car picks up several people at once. Is it not for my uncle’s exclusive use?”
“Of course. Only division-level cadres get private cars. As for your uncle, who knows if he’ll ever see the day he gets to ride in a private car,” Sister Yang said, clicking her tongue.
Who didn’t want to live a good life? Everyone wanted to climb higher.
Lin Xixi’s eyes flickered as she asked, “Then what if my uncle wants to go to the provincial capital? Can he use the public car?”
“He can, but he just has to prepare a pack of cigarettes for Xiao Zhang,” Sister Yang instructed her. “But keep it quiet. If you use it, you use it, just don’t go blabbering about it everywhere.”
Pausing, she added, “Everyone does this. It’s not just your uncle. This car is meant to serve everyone anyway.”
Lin Xixi smiled and said, “I understand.”
She slipped into the kitchen to ladle porridge for her cousins.
Sooner or later, there would be several cars, or maybe one car making more than one trip to pick up and drop off the cadres. But the people each driver picked up and dropped off were fixed, which meant that when Yan Lei went to the provincial capital to pick up Qiao Weiwei earlier, he must have taken Xiao Zhang’s car.
Xiao Zhang, perhaps, knew something.
It would be best if he could prove that this loose woman, Qiao Weiwei, had eloped with someone, and then she could find a way to spread the word. If everyone knew that Qiao Weiwei had cuckolded Yan Lei, how could a man tolerate such a thing?
They would definitely get a divorce.
Back then, when she followed her educated youth husband back to the city, she had merely smiled at a neighbor and chatted casually, only to have her mother-in-law point at her nose and call her a loose woman, and her man slapped her across the face, telling her to behave herself in the city.
She didn’t believe any man could tolerate this kind of thing!
