Chapter 57
During the morning run, Yan Lei insisted that Qiao Wei run in front.
“Why?”
“I’m afraid you won’t be able to keep up if I run too fast.”
Qiao Wei didn’t say a word and started to accelerate, sprinting.
Yan Lei followed closely behind her. No matter how she accelerated, she couldn’t shake him off.
Yan Lei wore a smile, his gaze fixed on Qiao Wei’s back.
She wasn’t a soldier, nor was she a student, yet she insisted on going out for a run early in the morning.
He had never seen a family member like this before. Most family members would wake up in the morning, tie on an apron, pick up a ladle, and start preparing breakfast for the whole family.
But Yan Lei loved the sight of Qiao Wei’s back as she ran.
The movement of her figure had rhythm and grace, sweating in the morning light, radiating vitality.
Indeed, if he didn’t exhaust her too much at night and let her get up on time for her morning run, her day would start with such vibrancy.
Breakfast was a vegetable pancake, with chopped green onions mixed into the batter, which smelled delicious.
Qiao Wei said: “Sister-in-law Zhao gave me these green onions. As for the ones you planted, I noticed the other vegetables have already sprouted, but those onions have barely poked their heads out. Did the seeds fail to germinate?”
What a city girl who understood nothing.
Yan Lei looked at her with disdain: “Onions planted this year won’t be ready to eat until next year, no matter how fast they grow. It’s good enough that they even sprouted a little seedling this year.”
Before leaving, Yan Lei had to inspect his precious vegetable patch, crouching down to see how much the little seedlings had grown since yesterday.
He even specifically instructed Qiao Wei: “Tell Xiangxiang to be careful. Don’t let her step on them when she’s running around the yard.”
He treasured them like nothing else.
When Yan Xiang woke up, his father had already gone to work.
Qiao Wei made him vegetable pancakes. She was generous with the eggs, making the pancakes delicious, and the boy ate until his mouth was oily.
Qiao Wei asked him: “Are we going to paint the walls with Mom again today?”
Yan Xiang nodded: “Yes!”
“Alright, today’s goal is the outer room of your bedroom, and the east wall of the main hall.”
“Okay!”
In the old-style house, the main hall was in the center, and the rooms on the east and west sides were divided into inner and outer chambers.
The inner chambers were bedrooms. The western outer room was a study, and the eastern outer room was for storage.
In this era, even furniture was limited, so the house seemed very empty.
The outer rooms were smaller than the inner bedrooms. After Qiao Wei and Yan Xiang finished painting the outer room, they painted one wall of the main hall.
“Alright, that’s it for today,” Qiao Wei said.
They did the same thing yesterday, only painting in the morning and leaving the afternoon for Yan Xiang to play and read.
At noon, Qiao Wei was cooking in the kitchen, and Yan Xiang was playing in the sandbox.
The sandbox was in the shade of a tree, so it wasn’t hot.
Yan Xiang played for a while, looked up at the sky, ran to the kitchen door, and said to Qiao Wei: “Mom, the clouds are blocking the sun.”
Qiao Wei also felt the room getting darker. She poked her head out the door and looked: “It’s getting cloudy.”
“It was so sunny this morning. Is it going to rain?”
Sure enough, while they were eating lunch, a light rain began to fall.
This was the first rain since Qiao Wei had transmigrated.
Qiao Wei said: “Listen.”
Tilting their ears to listen, there was no roar of cars or machines here.
Drip drop, pitter-patter.
Rain hit the black tiles, water dripped onto stones, splashing like pearls and jade.
Yan Xiang said: “It’s so quiet.”
After clearing the dishes, it was time for an afternoon nap.
Yan Xiang sat on the bamboo cooling bed with his legs dangling and asked Qiao Wei: “Mom, can we sleep here? It’s very quiet.”
Yan Xiang’s “quiet” meant something else entirely. Qiao Wei understood.
She said: “Sure.”
She even went inside to get him a buckwheat hull pillow.
Yan Xiang happily took off his shoes and lay down on the cooling bed.
“Mom, why does water fall from the sky?”
Qiao Wei said: “That requires starting with the water vapor that evaporates from the oceans and rivers. Do you remember when Mom told you about the Earth’s atmosphere…”
She also sat on the cooling bed, leaning against a cushion, slowly explaining the structure and operating principles of the world to Yan Xiang.
The rain fell softly, cool and refreshing, washing away the sweltering heat.
The cushion provided soft support.
The child’s cheeks were soft and bouncy when pinched.
The more Qiao Wei explained, the heavier her eyelids felt. The child she had been pinching stopped resisting. Her palm caressed his smooth face, and she could hear her own voice becoming slower and more distant…
When she opened her eyes again, the rain had stopped. Sunlight cut across the edge of the eaves, falling into the courtyard.
The air was still damp, and the pebble path was glistening.
This nap was so comfortable, she didn’t want to get up at all.
But the child’s feet were propped against her chin.
Qiao Wei: “…”
How did she end up falling asleep on the cooling bed with Yan Xiang?
Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and patted Yan Xiang’s bottom: “Wake up, wake up.”
Yan Xiang opened his eyes groggily, yawned, then immediately revived, sat up, and found his shoes to put on.
He ran onto the pebble path and jumped around: “Mom, look!”
The pebble path wasn’t wide, it was narrow, but it had been washed by the rain, making it fresh and clean.
“No need to step in the mud!” Yan Xiang said happily.
Before, whenever it rained, the yard would get wet, and they had to walk on bricks. If you weren’t careful and slipped, you’d step in mud.
With these two paths laid, it became clean, and they wouldn’t track mud into the house anymore.
Yan Xiang ran back and forth on the path, giggling.
The sandbox was soaked, so he couldn’t play there for the time being.
But he could play with mud. Who doesn’t play with mud after the rain?
When Yan Lei returned home, he saw the windowsill covered with small “sculptures.” Cubes, spheres, trapezoids, cones, small animals that he couldn’t tell were kittens or puppies, snakes, plates, bowls, and a teapot that had almost collapsed.
Yan Xiang introduced them to his father: “This is what I molded, and this is what Mom molded.”
“Dad, whose is better, mine or Mom’s?”
Apparently, being diplomatic was hereditary. Yan Lei answered steadily: “Xiangxiang’s is good-looking, and Mom’s is excellent.”
Apparently, Yan Xiang was very satisfied with this assessment. Although his own was very good, he couldn’t say Mom’s was bad.
Dad was right.
Yan Lei went into the main hall and exclaimed, “Wow, good progress.”
He asked again: “Where’s Mom?”
“In the kitchen.”
Yan Lei took off his uniform and went to the kitchen, and sure enough, Qiao Wei was cooking.
He went over and took the spatula: “Aren’t you tired today? Why are you still cooking?”
“I felt much better after you massaged me yesterday, so I’m not sore today,” Qiao Wei said. “Besides, we found our rhythm today and aren’t in such a rush. Yesterday, we just started too aggressively.”
Painting slowly was fine and not that tiring.
Anyway, there was no deadline.
“Today, the white paint was mixed perfectly. Yesterday, we didn’t actually intend to paint the whole room; we just wanted to paint the three walls around the heated brick bed. But we mixed too much, so we had to keep going. Then we ran out of paint, the walls weren’t finished, so we had to mix more…”
Yan Lei understood instantly: “Right, I’m the same way. If I don’t get it right, if I don’t finish a task, or if there isn’t a proper stopping point, it’s really uncomfortable.”
Qiao Wei laughed: “That’s called OCD.”
She told him the joke about someone who could never be sure if they had locked the door when leaving the house, so they would perform a boxing move after locking it, and eventually, it developed into having to perform a whole set of boxing after locking the door.
Of course, because she didn’t know if there was a standardized military boxing routine at this time, Qiao Wei just said “boxing” and didn’t mention “military boxing.”
Yan Lei laughed until his stomach hurt: “Who is this? From the old district or the Residential Compound?”
Qiao Wei said seriously: “I don’t know, I heard them talking about it when I was buying groceries.”
Qiao Wei’s social life had improved compared to before, and she was gradually interacting more with the neighbors.
Yan Lei said while stir-frying: “That person must be a martial artist.”
Later, this joke spread to the Military Unit. For a while, everyone wanted to find the silly person who had to perform a whole set of boxing moves just to lock a door.
There were a few martial artists in the Military Unit, but of course, no one would admit to it.
Later, different versions emerged about whether it was Nanquan or Northern Fist, Long Fist or Wing Chun, and they argued endlessly, each sticking to their own opinion.
The current progress of the painting was that the inner and outer rooms on the west side were finished, and the east wall of the main hall was painted.
“Tomorrow we’ll finish painting the main hall.”
This was Qiao Wei’s plan.
“And Xiangxiang…” Yan Lei asked tentatively.
“Xiangxiang will sleep with us for now. After we finish the main hall, let him go back.”
Yan Lei was happy.
When he returned the next day, the main hall was indeed brand new.
The photo frames and the Chairman’s portrait that had been on the wall were taken down and placed on the long table; the long table, desk, low cabinet, and shoe cabinet were temporarily moved away from the walls.
“We’ll move them back tomorrow once it’s dry,” Qiao Wei grimaced. “I can’t do it today; the table and long table are too heavy, and Xiangxiang can’t help. I had to drag them out by myself.”
There was no OSB board at this time; the furniture was all solid wood and incredibly heavy.
Yan Lei said: “Don’t worry about it tomorrow, wait for me to come back. I’ll move them.”
“Then help me move the wardrobe in our bedroom today; I need to paint our room tomorrow.”
“Okay!”
Just after returning home from dinner, Regimental Commander Zhao came over carrying a bottle of wine: “Your sister-in-law won’t let me drink at home.”
There were many boys in the house, and they weren’t learning anything good; they were following their father’s example and learning to drink. Even when the adults forbade it, they would drink in secret.
Sister Yang chased Regimental Commander Zhao out.
Qiao Wei brought out a dish of peanuts.
Regimental Commander Zhao was surprised and happy: “You must have known I was coming.”
Qiao Wei laughed: “You timed it perfectly.”
The Residential Compound Cafeteria had fried peanuts today. Snacks were too scarce in this era, and Qiao Wei had developed a bit of a hamster habit; seeing them, she couldn’t just walk away, so she packed them in her lunchbox and brought them back.
Who knew Regimental Commander Zhao would come at just the right time.
A small table was set in the courtyard, and Qiao Wei even lit mosquito coils for them.
Regimental Commander Zhao stood at the door and looked at the main hall: “What’s going on here?”
Yan Lei smiled and said: “The walls at home were dirty, and my wife is a neat freak; she insisted on repainting them. So, a little bit every day, and in two more days, it’ll be finished.”
“Did your wife paint it all by herself?”
Regimental Commander Zhao truly looked at Qiao Wei with new respect. Who said the wife of The Yan Household couldn’t lift a finger?
“And me! Uncle Zhao! And me!”
“Oh, oh, oh! And our little Xiangxiang!” Regimental Commander Zhao gave him a thumbs up and even fed him a peanut.
It was oily and fragrant.
Yan Xiang was happy.
Men love to open up when they drink.
Their hometowns weren’t far apart, belonging to the same region, so they had even more in common.
Qiao Wei listened from inside the room through the window. They already had accents, and as they talked, they stopped speaking Mandarin and switched entirely to their local dialect.
They drank to their heart’s content. Yan Lei was slightly tipsy, and after seeing Regimental Commander Zhao off and washing up, he felt a bit more sober.
He went into the house and tiptoed to the east room to take a look. Very good, Yan Xiang was sleeping alone in his own brand-new, clean bedroom.
Yan Lei headed to the west room full of joy—
Qiao Wei was already asleep.
Even if she said she wasn’t tired, it was still physical labor.
With the increase in physical activity, her sleep quality improved. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Yan Lei: “…”
Some old comrades who love to drink really ruin things!
Wait until tomorrow, wait until tomorrow. Yan Lei comforted himself.
Xiangxiang had also returned to his own room, wait until tomorrow.
The next day, Yan Lei returned with anticipation.
The west bedroom was also finished. It was clean and white, like a new marriage chamber.
Yan Lei was full of energy and first put the long table, furniture, and low cabinet in the main hall back in place.
Looking forward to the evening arriving early.
In the evening, Qiao Wei said: “Let’s go, let’s go sleep in Yan Xiang’s room.”
Yan Lei: “?”
“Our room has been painted, so it needs to air out. Let’s sleep in Xiangxiang’s room for two days.”
“Mom, Dad!” Yan Xiang jumped on the heated brick bed in his bedroom, happily welcoming the two guests as the master of the room, “Come quickly.”
He also arranged the positions: “Dad sleeps on this end, and Mom and I sleep on this end.”
Very organized.
He didn’t know that in the middle of the night, when Dad looked at his sweet wife hugging their sweet son, sleeping so sweetly.
Only he was too angry to sleep!
