Chapter 52
Eating out was a luxury for people at this time, but not for the families of cadres. However, the entire family of Regimental Commander Zhao had come, yet Lin Xixi was nowhere to be seen.
“She wouldn’t come no matter what I said,” Sister Yang explained to Qiao Wei.
It wasn’t that she, as the aunt, was being mean to her husband’s niece.
She actually liked this niece; she was hardworking and, unlike some other girls who were greedy or petty, Lin Xixi never fought with her younger siblings.
Even though she had been in low spirits lately, she hadn’t faked illness to slack off. Instead, she just worked, worked, and worked in silence, never stopping.
Listening to Sister Yang’s description, Qiao Wei recalled how she had seen Lin Xixi over the past two days; she was indeed very quiet, with no light in her eyes.
The sneakiness and ambition she used to see in her were gone.
Watching the children eating heartily at the dinner table while the two men drank, she asked Sister Yang, “Last time at the market, I saw her with Xiao Zhang…”
Sister Yang quickly clarified, “They just met once. The two children didn’t hit it off, so she made things clear to Xiao Zhang. Our Xixi is a proper girl; she hasn’t spent a cent of anyone else’s money. Xiao Zhang wanted to buy her things, but she adamantly refused.”
“Oh, I see. Then will she… continue to go on matchmaking dates?” Qiao Wei asked.
She had to be concerned. After all, Lin Xixi was the original female lead, and the impression she’d given previously was that she had an obsession with Yan Lei. If she held onto this obsession, it would be a troublesome matter for Qiao Wei.
Sister Yang hesitated for a moment, but since she had become quite close with Qiao Wei recently—especially after the recent incident—she opened up: “That child has high standards. She said she absolutely must find someone from the city. Sigh, you tell me, how easy is it to find someone from the city?”
Qiao Wei was surprised.
She probed a bit more and managed to find out about the “missed matchmaking opportunity” that Lin Xixi had mentioned herself, and she let out a long sigh of relief.
It was wonderful that the original female lead could figure things out on her own.
She was glad there were no forced world rules in this place to bind the male and female leads together.
“Old Zhao is working on her household registration,” Sister Yang said. “You have to admit, that child has her own ideas.”
Lin Xixi had finally found the right path; that was a good thing regardless. Qiao Wei expressed her support: “Having an urban household registration is great. Later on, ask Brother Zhao to find a way to arrange a job for her so she can earn her own wages.”
But Sister Yang wasn’t as enthusiastic about this.
If Lin Xixi went to work, all the housework for the whole family would fall on her shoulders again. Plus, she’d have to add Lin Xixi to the mix. She would have to serve so many people.
Qiao Wei realized her mistake and corrected herself: “Wait a few years, when the children are older and don’t need looking after, then let her go to work. She’ll have to be grateful to her aunt and uncle for the rest of her life, won’t she?”
Sister Yang nodded then and said, “Yes, in a few years. At least wait until Wu Nier doesn’t need constant care.”
She then worried, “Where on earth am I supposed to find her someone from the city?”
To Lin Xixi, “someone from the city” meant a real city dweller. In her eyes, the residents of the small town were no different from country folk.
Qiao Wei said, “Don’t worry. She’s still young; who knows when she might meet the right person.”
Sister Yang said, “Anyway, she won’t find anyone in the Military Unit.”
Business at the restaurant was quite good on Saturday night; there were actually several tables occupied.
Just counting the veteran cadres who came to celebrate their salary raises, there were two families. These families even moved between tables, toasting and congratulating each other.
It hadn’t been easy for this group of veteran cadres to get a salary raise. Take Regimental Commander Zhao, for instance; his salary grade had reached the cap for his current position. If he wanted another raise, he would have to get promoted.
Regimental Commander Fan, Xia Hehua’s husband, already had a salary grade one level lower than Regimental Commander Zhao and Yan Lei; he was in the lowest grade for the same position, and now he was two grades behind Regimental Commander Zhao. Moreover, having missed this opportunity, who knew when the next one would come.
On the way back, the sky was already dark. The men were slightly tipsy and clearly happy.
Regimental Commander Zhao was happy about his salary raise, but what was Yan Lei so happy about?
He was actually holding Qiao Wei’s hand as they walked. Sister Yang snickered in front of them. If Gangzi, Huazi, or Yingzi turned to peek, she would swat their heads back: “What are you looking at?”
The children’s faces were all flushed. They had never seen adult men and women walking hand in hand.
On Sunday, Yan Lei disappeared early in the morning.
They had agreed to pave the path today. He had gone to fetch materials.
After waking up, Qiao Wei and Yan Xiang started digging the path.
Qiao Wei wanted to renovate the entire courtyard, and following Yan Lei’s suggestion, they had started with the vegetable patch first, because plants need time to grow and they had to seize the right season.
The second project was to fix the small path in the yard because the rainy season was coming soon.
The path was in two sections: one from the courtyard gate to the house door, and the other from the house door to the toilet. After building these two small paths, they wouldn’t have to hop around on those few bricks when entering and exiting during the rainy season.
Regimental Commander Zhao’s family had paved their courtyard path. Theirs was a wet-weather path paved with old bricks.
Although their home had many unauthorized additions and looked cluttered, it was filled with a passion for life everywhere. In comparison, Yan Lei’s courtyard was empty and desolate. Now, Qiao Wei was going to change all of that.
The original plan was for Yan Lei to dig the roadbed during the evenings these past few days, but Regimental Commander Zhao’s affairs had taken up his time, so he hadn’t started.
Now that he had gone to get materials, Qiao Wei rolled up her sleeves and got to work.
The foundation didn’t need to be very deep; just shoveling off a shallow layer of soil was enough. Qiao Wei shoveled the soil, and Yan Xiang helped by dragging the dustpan back and forth to dump the dirt. The mother and son worked together, and soon the roadbed for the small path was dug.
Before nine in the morning, Yan Lei returned, bringing a cart full of things with someone’s help. There were several sacks, all placed in the courtyard.
“Oh, didn’t I tell you to wait for me to come back and do it?” he chided her.
Qiao Wei said, “It’s a shallow dig; it didn’t take much effort.”
Since she had already dug it, he started paving the path.
“What is this?” Qiao Wei leaned over to look.
“Slag,” Yan Lei said. “The Residential Compound bathhouse burns coal, so there’s as much slag as you could want.”
The slag was crushed and spread evenly into the roadbed, basically bringing it almost level with the ground.
Yan Lei mixed cement mortar and used two enamel cups to teach Yan Xiang how to sprinkle the mortar evenly over the slag, then used a wooden mallet to tap and vibrate it so the mortar would settle and penetrate.
Qiao Wei didn’t need to do this part, but she squatted nearby to learn, constantly exclaiming, “Oh, so that’s how it works!”
Yan Lei found it amusing: “High school students don’t know anything.”
Qiao Wei propped her elbows on her knees and rested her face in her hands: “High school students have just finished their high school textbooks; I’m not as cultured as you think.”
Yan Lei glanced at her.
She was exactly as he had imagined her to be.
After the mortar had settled and stabilized the foundation, it was finally Qiao Wei’s turn.
Yan Lei spread another layer of cement mortar on the foundation and inserted broken roof tiles on both sides to act as edges, and Qiao Wei laid the collected pebbles densely in the middle.
The couple worked together, from morning until the sun was high in the afternoon. When Yan Xiang woke up from his nap after lunch, he rubbed his eyes and walked out of the house, immediately exclaiming, “Wow~!”
Once these two pebble paths were laid, the courtyard felt completely transformed.
Yan Xiang said, “My home has become more beautiful.” He spoke like a textbook, which was hilarious.
But it was true; Yan Lei stood with his hands on his hips, looking at it, and for the first time, he realized his own small courtyard could be so pretty.
Especially his vegetable patch, which was already sprouting little green seedlings. There was something to look forward to.
Yan Xiang almost stepped onto the pebble path.
Qiao Wei let out an “Aie——!” sound.
Yan Lei was quick and nimble, scooping the child up into the air: “It’s not dry yet!”
He tucked Yan Xiang under his arm and told him, “Don’t step on it for the next two days. Wait until it’s completely dry.”
Yan Xiang kicked his short legs: “Oh!”
Yan Lei turned Yan Xiang around, set him down, and pointed: “Look at that.”
Yan Xiang cupped his small face and let out a big “Wow~”.
Sand, it was sand!
His sandbox was filled with sand.
A small shovel was stuck in the sand, and a small bucket was turned upside down.
Mommy and Daddy hadn’t lied to him; they kept their word, and there really was sand in the sandbox!
Yan Xiang ran over, pulled up the bucket, and let out another “Wow~”.
The sand had taken the shape of the bucket and actually didn’t collapse.
Qiao Wei went over, picked up the small shovel, and with a few quick strokes, shaped the bucket-shaped sand pillar, then picked up a small twig and drew two lines in front of it.
Yan Xiang: “It turned into a house!”
“Add a little water; semi-dry sand is especially easy to shape,” Qiao Wei taught him.
From now on, he had a brand-new toy.
None of the other children had one.
Qiao Wei had promised Qiao Weiwei that she would make him happy.
Turning around, she saw Yan Lei filling a bucket of water by the hand pump, having taken off his tank top, and wringing out a towel to wipe his body.
After a day of work, his body was sweaty.
In the sunlight, water droplets glistened on the man’s body; he was sturdy and agile, with not a single flaw in his muscular waist and torso.
Qiao Wei raised her hand to shield her eyes and looked closely.
If it weren’t for this special era, life would be perfect.
After a tiring day, they didn’t cook dinner at home, nor did they just make do like at lunch; the family of three went to the Residential Compound’s Cafeteria to eat.
The Cafeteria mainly served lunch from Monday to Saturday. With the men at work, the family members found it easier. In the evenings and on weekends, when the men were home, the family members would light fires and cook at home. There were fewer people eating at the Cafeteria then.
After Yan Lei and his family finished eating at the Cafeteria, they saw many people carrying small stools toward the square. Once or twice a month, on weekend nights, there would be an open-air movie in the square.
Watching a movie was a major event, and everyone headed there in high spirits.
Living in the Residential Compound, bathing was convenient, and entertainment was convenient too. The Residential Compound not only had an activity room where one could play table tennis or badminton, but also a basketball court. It was said that Division Commander Pan loved playing basketball.
Qiao Wei said, “So they’re showing a movie today.”
Yan Lei only then remembered that a notice had been posted about a movie today; with yesterday’s eating and drinking and today’s busy day, he had forgotten.
He glanced at Qiao Wei, feeling slightly nervous.
To come to the movie from the old family residential area, one had to carry a stool and walk for a long time, just like going to bathe. It was all very inconvenient. Because of this, every time they went back after watching a movie, she would ignore him. Later, whenever a movie was announced, the moment he told her, her expression would turn ugly. Eventually, he just stopped telling her. Since she didn’t interact with others, almost no one would proactively come to invite her to go along. She didn’t know, and the home was quieter for it. He hadn’t expected to run into it today while coming to the Cafeteria.
Not being able to live in the new district was the biggest conflict between her and him. He could change all the other things and do them according to her requirements, but this was the only thing that couldn’t be done.
Yan Lei steeled himself, wanting to ask her if she wanted to go see the movie.
Unexpectedly, Qiao Wei asked, “Do you want to go see it?”
Yan Lei said, “I’ve seen this one several times before.”
Great. Qiao Wei said, “Then let’s go; let’s not stay here and feed the mosquitoes.”
She didn’t want to watch it at all. What was there to watch in old black-and-white movies?
Moreover, in the memories left by the original host, people were chattering, children were running, jumping, and screaming, and many people were spitting everywhere.
Forget it, forget it, time to go home.
Yan Lei breathed a sigh of relief and scooped up the short-legged Yan Xiang: “Let’s go, home.”
“I wonder if the path is dry yet.”
“Let it air for another day tomorrow, just to be safe.”
“Okay.”
“What should we work on next?”
“Let me think.”
