Chapter 56
When Yan Lei entered his courtyard, he saw Qiao Wei lying on her back on the cooling bed with her shoes and socks off, her feet propped up, and an open book covering her face.
Their son was also sitting on the cooling bed reading, barefoot, but because his mother was taking up most of the space, his little short legs had to rest on her stomach.
Her big white feet twitched slightly.
His little white feet swayed back and forth.
What a sight the two of you are.
“What are you doing?” Yan Lei chuckled.
Qiao Wei took the book off her face, squinting at him as she lay there. “You’re back. I can’t do it today; I have no energy to cook. Let’s go to the Cafeteria to eat.”
Yan Xiang put down his comic book. “Dad, we painted the walls today. They’re as white as snow.”
“Good, let me see. How much did you paint?” Yan Lei put his things down and went straight into the house.
He took a look and, wow, Yan Xiang’s bedroom was actually finished.
The room looked completely different; all four walls were snow-white, giving it a very clean feeling.
Yan Lei came out and teased Qiao Wei, “Comrade Qiao is quite capable.”
Qiao Wei put the book back over her face. “I’m already a wreck, don’t bother me. If you need anything, just burn paper for me.”
Yan Lei scolded her, “What nonsense are you saying? Spit it out!”
“A steadfast communist fighter, a believer in materialism, isn’t afraid.”
Materialist or not, you shouldn’t curse yourself to death. Yan Lei kicked the cooling bed. “Hurry up!”
Fine, she had transmigrated into a book, so her faith in materialism wasn’t actually that firm anyway. Qiao Wei said, “Pah, pah, pah.”
“I got everything you wanted,” Yan Lei said.
Qiao Wei sat up and saw that Yan Lei had brought home a mesh bag. She took everything out.
An army water bottle, two pairs of green army pants—yes, yes, yes, these were all what she wanted.
He also brought her a brown leather belt. “Wear this one. It looks better with the army pants.”
The belt Qiao Wei currently had was a women’s style, narrower and thinner than the men’s version, and didn’t match the green army pants quite as well.
She had forgotten about the belt, but she hadn’t expected Yan Lei to think of it.
It was a perfect match, practically a fashion statement.
“And here is the satchel you wanted.” Yan Lei took the bag out for her. “It can hold a lot of things.”
And it was very sturdy.
“I’m going to go try them on.” Qiao Wei hugged the pile of things and went into the house.
Yan Lei turned and sat on the cooling bed, talking to Yan Xiang and asking about the painting work today.
Yan Xiang’s eyes curved, revealing a mouthful of little white teeth. “Painting was so much fun. Mom used the roller, and I used the brush.”
Yan Lei gave him a thumbs up.
He picked up the book Qiao Wei had left on the cooling bed; it turned out to be the agricultural guide manual bought from the county town.
From those toxic literary novels to agricultural knowledge and technology—for a young city woman, this was such a huge improvement.
Yan Lei was extremely moved.
Yan Xiang watched his father holding the book he had been reading that afternoon, looking all sentimental as if he had finally tasted the sweetness after bitterness. “?”
Yan Lei flipped through the book and found it quite interesting.
Because many things in it were things he had understood since childhood. Actually, no one had specially taught him, but rural children followed adults around in the fields every day, naturally accumulating a lot of agricultural knowledge.
These things were just common sense to them.
Now, it was actually being printed seriously in lead type and turned into a book.
Flipping through it more, there were actually some things he didn’t know.
Actually, Qiao Wei had flipped through it too, but as a city person who couldn’t tell the five grains apart, she was completely lost. But Yan Lei, coming from a farming background, was immediately absorbed in it.
“So that’s how it is.”
“Really?”
“What exactly is this potassium? Can this potassium fertilizer only be bought from the commune? Can’t we make it ourselves?”
Just as he was reading intently, he suddenly heard Qiao Wei call him, “Yan Lei!”
Yan Lei turned his head.
Qiao Wei was wearing a white shirt and green army pants, the brown leather belt cinching her slender waist tightly.
She also had the green army satchel slung across her body.
Her eyes were smiling, and she stood under the eaves, looking fresh and beautiful.
In that instant, something slammed into Yan Lei’s heart.
He felt his whole body heating up and his mouth going dry, yet he was filled with trepidation, not daring to make a move.
It was as if he had been frozen in place.
Until Qiao Wei asked, “Does it look good?”
She held the strap of her satchel, turned around to let him see the back, and then turned back.
Yan Lei finally let out a breath and breathed normally.
“Does it look good or not?” Qiao Wei pressed, “Say something.”
“It looks good.” After saying that, Yan Lei felt those two words weren’t enough to express his feelings at that moment. However, his repertoire of rhetoric was insufficient. After thinking, there was one description that came closest: “You look like a young girl.”
Qiao Wei was amused by his words. “What do you mean ‘like’? I am a young girl.”
Yan Lei actually argued back: “You’re already married, and you’re a mother…”
“That’s because I got married early,” Qiao Wei said. “In terms of age, I am a young girl!”
Wasn’t that the truth? In later times, this was an age where one hadn’t even graduated from university; she was absolutely a young girl.
But here, she had gotten married before graduating from high school and had become a mother early on.
It was very helpless.
Otherwise, given her and Yan Lei’s current age, it would be the perfect time to fall in love.
Green army uniform and white shirt, holding hands—how wonderful that would be.
Although they couldn’t date, the green army uniform and white shirt, each holding one of Yan Xiang’s little hands, with the family of three walking happily toward the Residential Compound, was also quite wonderful.
It was mealtime, and every household had smoke rising from their kitchens; there was no one on the road.
Occasionally encountering a person or two, they couldn’t help but take an extra look at this family of three.
Qiao Wei didn’t pay attention, but when she occasionally turned her head, she found that Yan Lei was also looking at her.
Seeing her turn her face, Yan Lei suddenly averted his gaze.
Qiao Wei: “?”
“Is it very hot?” Qiao Wei wondered. “Why is your face so red?”
“A little hot.” Yan Lei tugged at his collar. “It’s just hotter today than yesterday.”
Qiao Wei didn’t feel it was hotter than yesterday, and besides, it was evening now, the sun was low, and the sunlight wasn’t that intense. She said, “It must be the thick uniform. Hey, why didn’t you change your clothes before coming out?”
Yan Lei: “I forgot.”
Arriving at the Residential Compound Cafeteria, they took out their lunchboxes and got their meal.
Qiao Wei patted her new satchel. “It really can hold a lot of things.”
It’s very practical.
Someone walked by holding a lunchbox with a steamed bun in their mouth, caught sight of Qiao Wei, and couldn’t look away. Their mouth opened involuntarily, and the steamed bun fell to the ground.
The person let out an “oops” and squatted down to pick it up.
Qiao Wei turned her head to look. “What happened?”
Yan Lei said calmly, “It’s nothing, that person dropped their steamed bun.”
It had nothing to do with them. Qiao Wei turned back and put another piece of meat into Yan Xiang’s lunchbox.
Yan Lei glanced at that person.
He had seen it all just now; what was with staring unblinkingly at someone else’s wife?
That person was looking over guiltily, and when their eyes met, they walked away with the steamed bun, face bright red.
Yan Lei gave a soft hmph in his heart.
But looking at his own wife again, she indeed looked like an unmarried young girl.
The families of battalion-level officers were relatively young, and the most popular clothing for them right now was still the Blagi. And the Blagi of this time especially loved using floral fabrics.
No, that’s wrong; almost all women’s clothing at this time loved using floral fabrics.
The white shirt and green army pants, amidst a sea of floral prints, indeed had a feeling of a lotus flower emerging from clear water.
On the way back from the Cafeteria to the entrance of the Residential Compound, there were always men out for a stroll who would intentionally or unintentionally take an extra look at Qiao Wei.
Coming from later times, Qiao Wei naturally didn’t think anything of these gazes.
In later times, people would come up and ask for contact information.
But she did feel that something was wrong with Yan Lei.
“What’s wrong with you today?” Qiao Wei even placed her hand on his forehead to test it.
He didn’t have a fever.
Yan Lei pulled her hand down, and taking advantage of the darkness and the lack of people on the road, he didn’t let go, boldly holding her hand.
Qiao Wei held Yan Xiang’s hand.
Yan Xiang: “Dad and I are holding Mom’s hand!”
When he said that, Yan Lei felt even more emboldened. “That’s right, we are holding Mom’s hand.”
They walked all the way home like that, unwilling to let go.
Qiao Wei pulled her hand away. “I boiled some soap locust water; help me wash my hair.”
Yan Lei felt empty in his palm and rubbed his fingers. “Coming.”
The soap locust water had been boiled right before Yan Lei came home. By now, it was just right, warm.
Yan Lei held the basin and poured it carefully and slowly. As Qiao Wei washed her hair, she said, “My arms are done for; they’re starting to ache.”
Yan Lei said, “I’ll massage them for you.”
His voice was low and deep, like an evening song under the twilight, carrying its own atmosphere.
His gaze fell on Qiao Wei’s shoulders and neck, slowly sweeping over her slender neck, thin shoulders, and snow-white skin.
His gaze froze, becoming sticky.
But Qiao Wei didn’t notice at all.
The closer it got to bedtime, the more Yan Lei felt an indescribable tension.
He couldn’t understand it himself.
Recently, their relationship as a married couple had progressed by leaps and bounds, and they had unlocked all sorts of things. Why, when thinking about going to sleep later, was his heart still pounding?
When Qiao Wei and Yan Xiang had both gone into the house, he drew a bucket of water and wiped himself down from top to bottom before entering the house.
His heart was racing.
As it turned out…
“Dad, come quickly!” Yan Xiang was rolling around happily on the kang in the west room.
Yan Lei: “…”
Yan Lei went over to ruffle his hair. “Why aren’t you asleep yet? Go back to your room.”
Yan Xiang opened his big, innocent eyes. “I’m sleeping with you guys today.”
Yan Lei immediately said, “How can…”
“He’s sleeping with us today.” Qiao Wei, who was lighting a mosquito coil, turned her head to tell him. “His room needs to air out. Let him sleep with us for these few days.”
Yan Lei was silent for a moment, making a final struggle. “There’s no smell…”
“How can there not be? There definitely is.” Qiao Wei insisted. “Even if there’s no smell that the nose can detect, there must be some volatile substances. At the very least, wait for it to air out before letting the child sleep there.”
Qiao Wei actually didn’t know whether lime was harmful to the human body, nor did she know if there were any other additives in the white powder besides lime. Although talking about decoration pollution in this era was a bit too advanced, letting it air out for a few days always made one feel more at ease, right?
It had been a long time since Yan Xiang had slept with his mom and dad.
He used to always sleep with his mom, but after his mom went on a long trip for a few days and came back, she suddenly only slept with his dad.
Although the little man was very brave and strong and could sleep alone, he was really very envious of his dad.
Who wouldn’t want to sleep with their mom?
Yan Xiang rolled around happily on the big kang.
Yan Lei didn’t need to be nervous anymore, and his heart didn’t need to pound anymore.
Qiao Wei called out to him, acting spoiled. “Come quickly and help me massage my arms, otherwise I won’t be able to continue working tomorrow.”
Yan Lei resigned himself to getting on the kang to help Qiao Wei relax her muscles.
In the end, the two of them fell asleep with Yan Xiang between them.
This really couldn’t be blamed on Qiao Wei.
On the very first day Qiao Wei transmigrated here, she had hit the jackpot with the “old married couple” mode. She would bathe naked, and Yan Lei wouldn’t even glance at her.
Later, things developed well, and the two of them were physically intimate.
How could Qiao Wei have imagined that people in this era lived in an environment where emotions were suppressed? Especially those with lower education levels, who understood even less about what love between a man and a woman was.
They fulfilled the responsibilities of a husband or the duties of a wife, lived in harmony, lived together, and procreated together, often thinking that this was love.
But love is actually hormones, dopamine, and the momentary blankness in one’s mind when lifting one’s eyes and seeing her.
In the darkness, Yan Lei turned his head and looked; Yan Xiang was already asleep.
Qiao Wei, in a daze, was still gently patting him.
Yan Lei turned on his side and quietly reached out, holding Qiao Wei’s hand.
Qiao Wei was already dazed, and once her hand was held, she didn’t move anymore.
Yan Lei held her hand for a long time before falling asleep.
