Chapter 31
The breakfast at Regimental Commander Zhao’s house was quite good; this morning, they had corn pancakes.
Who would have thought that his niece from the countryside would know how to eat so well? She had actually added white flour and sugar to the corn pancakes. They didn’t even taste like regular corn pancakes anymore; the texture and flavor had been elevated by several levels.
Regimental Commander Zhao packed two pancakes in his lunchbox. Lin Xixi saw this and asked, “Is that not enough to eat?”
She felt a bit proud.
At this time, corn pancakes were traditional—coarse and unpalatable. The concept of “refining coarse grains” didn’t exist yet. By showing off this skill, she had truly impressed her uncle.
Regimental Commander Zhao said, “These are delicious. I’ll take a couple for others to try.”
The “others” Regimental Commander Zhao referred to were his comrades.
Lin Xixi needed to find a partner now and needed a good reputation. She was a diligent girl, and the fact that she could cook delicious food was a huge plus; as her uncle, he had to promote her.
Lin Xixi heard this, but she interpreted “others” as specifically meaning Yan Lei.
Her eyes rolled, and she said sweetly, “Then you must praise me to them; you have to let them know I made them.”
Regimental Commander Zhao laughed heartily: “Sure, sure.”
Setting aside his earlier suspicion that she had a little crush on Yan Lei, Regimental Commander Zhao was still quite fond of his niece. Even his wife couldn’t stop praising her as a diligent girl. She was also pretty, so she wouldn’t have trouble finding a good match.
He picked up the lunchbox and said, “The bathhouse is open today; the whole family will go bathe tonight.”
Once washed clean, he would have her change into a beautiful dress tomorrow so she could make an appearance.
Lin Xixi lived in the Residential Compound, the old area, so the only people who had seen her were the nearby neighbors. The young men in the Military Unit had only heard that a fair-skinned, pretty niece had come to Regimental Commander Zhao’s house, but they hadn’t had a chance to see her yet.
Regimental Commander Zhao wanted to arrange for everyone to meet.
He walked away with the lunchbox and saw Yan Lei at the intersection first. Yan Lei was the tallest and looked the most upright in his uniform; he was a standard clothes hanger. You would see him first in any crowd.
“Have you all eaten?” Regimental Commander Zhao walked over to greet them. “Come, come, try the pancakes my niece made. Taste them, taste them; they’re different from the ones you have at home.”
They were all people of rank, so not only could they eat their fill at home, but they also had access to fine grains. Originally, they weren’t very interested in corn pancakes, as they were coarse grains. But hearing Regimental Commander Zhao say this, they gave him face. The two pancakes were broken into several pieces, and everyone tasted one.
“Hey, delicious!”
After eating, they all praised them, and hands reached out again. But Regimental Commander Zhao held the lunchbox shut: “There’s only this much; I still have to save some for others!”
Everyone jokingly scolded him for being stingy.
“Go, go, go, get away!” Regimental Commander Zhao called out to Driver Zhang. “Little Zhang, Little Zhang, don’t rush to drive, come and have a piece!”
Driver Zhang had a piece, and his eyes lit up upon tasting it: “My mother! I’ve never eaten such delicious corn pancakes, how did you make these?”
“How would I know? I’m a grown man; do you think I touch the pots and pans?” Regimental Commander Zhao nudged Yan Lei with his elbow and winked, “Right, Yan? Oh, Yan, eating at the Cafeteria again today?”
This was pampering his wife too much. What kind of serious illness could she have to not cook for two days in a row?
Yan Lei knew immediately that Sister Yang must have told Regimental Commander Zhao after seeing him wash the dishes yesterday.
This man, who had only cooked this morning, calmly shook the mesh bag containing his lunchbox: “Eating at the Cafeteria is so much easier; no need to wash the pots.”
Regimental Commander Zhao laughed heartily.
Today was the third day of Auntie Qiao Wei’s period. Her condition had improved a lot; she didn’t feel as horrified when she stood up from the stool with a sanitary pad, and she could basically move around normally.
After Yan Xiang finished breakfast, she said, “A man needs to help out.”
Since she had the idea of tidying up the yard, she didn’t have to wait for Yan Lei to come home and do it all by himself; she and Yan Xiang could do what they could.
Yan Xiang wiped his mouth: “Coming!”
The mother and son first moved the scattered debris in the yard to the back of the house.
It took all morning to get the yard mostly cleared. There were a few very heavy items left untouched.
“Leave those for your dad to move when he gets back,” Qiao Wei said. “He has strength.”
Xiangxiang twisted her body like a twist: “I have strength too, I have strength!”
“Good, good, good, Xiangxiang has strength too,” Qiao Wei laughed, “Dad is an adult and has big strength, Xiangxiang is a child and has little strength.”
Xiangxiang was satisfied.
Qiao Wei let Yan Xiang wash his hands and go play, while she stood with her hands on her hips, surveying the entire yard. After the debris was moved, the yard looked even more spacious.
She roughly measured the length and width with her steps, then went back to the study to get paper and a pen to start drawing a plan.
First, there had to be a vegetable patch.
Then, a sandbox for the child.
From the gate to the house door, there were bricks evenly placed on the dirt ground; Qiao Wei guessed they were for stepping on rainy days. After all, it was a dirt yard, and it would turn into a mud pit as soon as it rained.
Qiao Wei drew a path.
She would see what materials she could find to pave a small path in the yard, leading from the gate directly to the door. She would have to discuss the specifics with Yan Lei; she would use whatever materials she could find. Resources were limited, there was no other way.
Oh right, there was also her “human-powered washing machine.” Yan Lei had already found someone to work on it; he said it would be ready in a few days.
Qiao Wei drew a circle next to the water pump in the yard to reserve a spot for the human-powered washing machine.
After planning the yard, she looked up at the roof.
The places she could reach in the house were cleaned very well. Actually, it wasn’t dirty when she returned; the original owner was a very clean person, and the hygiene of the whole house was very good.
But good hygiene didn’t mean the house was in good condition.
The wall plaster was already in bad shape, especially in Yan Xiang’s room.
Qiao Wei knew why. Because this house was originally shared with others.
Only families of a certain rank could accompany the military. Yan Lei had reached the rank before getting married.
Because they were a young couple without children, when the housing was allocated, they were put together with another couple who only had two children.
At that time, only families with as many people as Regimental Commander Zhao’s could have a private courtyard.
It wasn’t until the new Military Unit Residential Compound was completed later, and that couple happily moved away, that the old Residential Compound became more spacious, and Yan Lei and the original owner could finally have a private courtyard and didn’t need to share.
Yan Xiang’s room was originally occupied by that couple. That family wasn’t very particular about hygiene, and the walls in that room were a layer dirtier than the walls on Yan Lei’s side.
When the room was vacated and Yan Xiang moved in, Yan Lei and the original owner pasted calendar paper on the walls.
Pasting calendar paper on the walls was considered very good to people at that time—clean and decorative. But of course, it wouldn’t do for Qiao Wei.
She wrote “Paint the walls” on the paper.
And the exterior of this house.
This house wasn’t a brick house, nor was it an adobe house; it was a stone house with very local characteristics.
But it had been damaged in the early years, and when it was repaired later, resources must have been limited, or it was repaired more than once; in any case, the materials used during the repairs weren’t uniform. There were places with blue bricks and places with red bricks.
It looked like a piece of clothing with uncoordinated colorful patches.
Qiao Wei wrote “Exterior facade” on the paper.
Yan Lei had also entrusted someone with her job search, but this wasn’t something that could be done in two or three days. Perhaps it would require pulling strings layer by layer, and it also depended on whether the place she wanted to go had openings and quotas.
Then, she could do many things during the days she didn’t have to work.
She also had many things she wanted to do.
She used to lie on the hospital bed scrolling through those renovation videos, dreaming of having a down-to-earth courtyard one day to renovate as she pleased. Wasn’t this the opportunity right in front of her?
The Residential Compound bathhouse was open twice a week, once on Tuesday and once on Friday.
On days the bathhouse was open, the men would return a little earlier. Yan Lei carried the lunchbox home, and as soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw that the yard had become more spacious.
“Whoa!” he exclaimed.
Yan Xiang heard the sound and immediately turned his head to shout into the house: “Mom! Dad is back!”
After shouting, he ran over to report: “Dad, Dad! Mom and I cleaned up the yard today! We both cleaned it together!”
“Not bad, not bad.” Yan Lei rubbed Yan Xiang’s head with his large hand. “Little comrade, you’ve worked hard. I’ll give you a big red flower later! Come, salute.”
Yan Xiang immediately stood with his legs together, chest out and stomach tucked, and gave a military salute with a “snap.”
Yan Lei smiled and returned the salute.
Qiao Wei came out of the house.
Rural houses were tall and deep, and down-to-earth, unlike apartments that easily felt stuffy. During the day when it wasn’t that hot or there was a breeze, she liked to sit under the eaves or in the shade of a tree, which was cooler. But in the afternoon when the sun was high, it was cooler inside the house.
She went over to take the mesh bag containing the lunchbox.
Yan Lei said: “You’ve already started working on it?”
In the morning, she was drinking dough drop soup while fantasizing about how to tidy up the yard; by the afternoon when he returned, she had already taken the first step. This efficiency was quite high, and her initiative was quite strong.
Qiao Wei said: “Since I thought of it, I’ll do it. Otherwise, should I drag it out until next year?”
She asked: “Are you eating now?”
Yan Lei returned early today and didn’t feel too hungry yet.
Yan Lei unbuttoned and took off his uniform: “How about we go take a bath first? The bathhouse is open today. Right, you, can you bathe? You’re ‘that,’ you know, ‘that’…”
The old-fashioned, traditional man was obviously embarrassed to say menstruation or period, using ‘that’ to refer to it, with a kind of sneaky, guilty feeling.
Funny.
Qiao Wei said: “I won’t go; it’s inconvenient. You take Xiangxiang.”
Being on her period, it was fine to wash at her own home, but it was a bit awkward at the public bathhouse.
“I’ll boil water for you, you wash at home,” Yan Lei said quickly.
Last night, she complained about the inconvenience of using water and that she smelled like him. But there was no help for that; he couldn’t boil water for a bath in the middle of the night.
“I’ve already boiled it, just waiting for you to come back and help me get cold water,” Qiao Wei took out the lunchbox. “I’m keeping the lunchbox warm on the stove. You guys can eat together when you come back from the bath.”
“Alright!” Yan Lei threw his uniform on a stool and turned to go carry a bucket to pump cold water.
After mixing the water for Qiao Wei, he picked up the basin and led Yan Xiang to the Residential Compound bathhouse to bathe.
Qiao Wei washed herself at home.
People from the old Residential Compound going to the Residential Compound bathhouse on Tuesday and Friday evenings was also a scene in the town.
The people in town were envious.
On the way, Yan Lei ran into Regimental Commander Zhao’s whole family. Regimental Commander Zhao asked: “Where is your wife?”
Yan Lei said: “She’s not feeling well.”
With two bathing opportunities a week, why would such a fastidious city lady like Qiao Wei not go bathe? It could only be one situation.
Regimental Commander Zhao had married his wife when he was sixteen or seventeen and had already had five children, so he understood very well. Hearing this, he stopped asking.
Lin Xixi really didn’t have any opportunity to get close to Yan Lei. During the day, he wasn’t at home; he was at the Battalion Headquarters. At night, when he returned, her uncle also returned, and the family had a wife and child, so she couldn’t just barge in.
Finally seeing Yan Lei alone, Lin Xixi’s head got hot, and she wanted to go over to seize the opportunity to strike up a conversation with him and leave an impression.
Who knew that Sister Yang happened to take a step diagonally, just in time to cut off her path.
Sister Yang even turned her head to call Yingzi: “Yingzi, hold your sister’s hand, don’t run around.”
Yingzi was confused: “I’m already 11.”
Besides, it was so hot, and holding hands, wasn’t it uncomfortable?
But Sister Yang glared at her. A mother had her own accumulated prestige; Yingzi shrank her neck, and reluctantly took two steps to walk side-by-side with Lin Xixi.
Sister Yang said to Lin Xixi: “I’ll watch Wu Nier, you watch Yingzi.”
Yingzi stiffened her neck: “I’m already 11!”
Sister Yang ignored her and said to Gangzi and Huazi: “Watch Jun Jun.”
It would have been better if she hadn’t said anything; as soon as she did, Junzi took off running, giggling.
Gangzi was angry: “Stand still!”
He was the big brother and had responsibilities on his shoulders, so he took off running to chase him.
Huazi had always been his follower, so he followed him to chase.
Sister Yang shouted: “Wait for us at the bathhouse entrance —”
Regimental Commander Zhao turned his head to look at his wife, and Sister Yang also looked at him.
Old married couples had tacit understanding; they understood each other with a glance. Regimental Commander Zhao glanced at Lin Xixi, who was being blocked, moved closer to Yan Lei, and walked side-by-side with him while talking to him.
In this way, everyone changed from a loose, random distribution to Regimental Commander Zhao and Yan Lei leading Yan Xiang in the first row, and Sister Yang and Wu Nier blocking in the middle as the second row, blocking Lin Xixi at the very back, with Yingzi hanging on the side.
If she dared to try to get close to Yan Lei like this, everyone in the entire Military District would know tomorrow that she was lusting after a married man.
Lin Xixi was almost stifled by a breath.
