Chapter 7
Yan Lei called Yan Xiang to come out for dinner.
Qiao Wei said to him, “The washbasin is too heavy, I can’t move it.”
Yan Lei looked down, picking at the lunchbox lid. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll move it after I eat.”
He looked back at her, frowning. “Why are you wearing my shirt?”
Qiao Wei tugged at the corner of the shirt. “My clothes aren’t comfortable.”
She looked at the clothes in the wardrobe. Most of her own clothes were made of chemical fiber, whereas Yan Lei’s shirts were all pure cotton.
Chemical fiber is so uncomfortable to wear, so she had just taken one of Yan Lei’s thin summer shirts to wear.
The sleeves were rolled up, and the hem hung loose. Since he was so tall, the size was large, making it loose, breathable, and sweat-absorbent—very comfortable.
Yan Lei repeated her words like a parrot, “Your clothes aren’t comfortable?”
His tone carried sarcasm, as if it were very funny.
Qiao Wei was puzzled and was just about to ask him what he meant when he said, “Your clothes are all’shaking cloth’.”
Information stored in some dark corners of her brain was activated, and Qiao Wei suddenly realized.
So, chemical fiber fabrics were actually good things in this era.
Buying cotton cloth required fabric ration coupons, and cotton cloth didn’t last long. People in this era didn’t have many clothes; they wore their two or three outfits until they were worn out and torn.
Chemical fiber fabric, however, was a new thing of the new era. It had good drape, didn’t wrinkle easily, and was known as “shaking cloth.”
“Shaking cloth” didn’t require ration coupons, but it was more expensive than cotton. Ordinary families were deterred by the price.
Therefore, there was a common saying: “Wearing’shaking cloth,’ you can tell at a glance they’re a high-ranking cadre.”
Qiao Wei understood the sarcasm in Yan Lei’s words. Many of the clothes in her wardrobe were made of “shaking cloth.”
In other words, Yan Lei really hadn’t treated the original owner badly in terms of material things.
Yet the original owner had run off with someone else.
Qiao Wei felt a headache coming on. Because the person who ran away wasn’t actually her, but now that she had replaced the original owner, the original owner’s actions were naturally counted against her.
She smiled helplessly. Just as she was about to go to the kitchen to get bowls and chopsticks, Yan Lei suddenly asked her, “Are you wearing pants?”
Qiao Wei lifted the hem of the shirt. “I’m wearing shorts.”
Inside, she had on floral shorts—now called big boxer shorts—which were just for daily home wear. It was just that Yan Lei was so tall, his shirt was long, and it covered them. At a glance, one only saw white thighs, which was startling and easily mistaken for forgetting to wear pants.
Yan Lei knitted his brows. “What does this look like? It looks like you’re not wearing anything. It’s a good thing it wasn’t Regimental Commander Zhao who came over just now.”
He had been startled when he came in just now. Fortunately, the person who had followed him was Regimental Commander Zhao’s niece—a woman.
Qiao Wei casually tucked a corner of her shirt into her shorts, which revealed a corner of the shorts, preventing the misunderstanding that she wasn’t wearing pants.
“Is that okay?”
Yan Lei frowned. “It looks strange.”
She couldn’t expect these old-fashioned people of this era to understand or accept this style from later generations.
Qiao Wei said, “I think it looks good.”
Yan Lei ignored her and looked down to uncover the lid of another lunchbox. “Go get the bowls and chopsticks. Yan Xiang—time to eat!”
Qiao Wei turned and went to the kitchen.
Yan Lei uncovered the lid, looked up, and happened to see her stepping into the kitchen.
Seen from behind, it still looked like she wasn’t wearing pants, wearing his shirt, exposing her straight, white legs.
A strange feeling arose in Yan Lei’s heart. He looked away, waited two seconds, and turned his gaze back, but Qiao Wei had already gone inside.
They were an old married couple; how could he still have such feelings?
It was clear they hadn’t shared a bed for a long time; he had long been used to it.
Just let it be. As long as she didn’t run away again and didn’t demand a divorce, they could just muddle along like this.
Qiao Weiwei’s heart was like a pool of stagnant water, and Yan Lei was no different; he no longer held any expectations for this marriage. Just muddling along was fine.
The family of three sat in the courtyard to eat. They had even lit mosquito coils, and it was quite cool.
Not to mention, although there wasn’t much meat, the vegetables were stir-fried quite deliciously. The proportions of scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar were very well balanced.
Yan Xiang ate with great relish and even said, “It must have been made by Sister Lin.”
Qiao Wei asked, “How do you know?”
“Since Sister Lin came, she’s been the one cooking,” Yan Xiang said, his cheeks bulging. “Uncle Zhao and Aunt Yang both praise her cooking and say she’s diligent. They even told Yingzi to learn more from Sister Lin.”
It was really hard to get used to not having disposable paper napkins.
Qiao Wei could only use her fingertips to wipe the oil stains from the corner of Yan Xiang’s mouth. “Swallow before you speak. Don’t talk with food in your mouth. Keep your mouth closed while eating, and don’t smack your lips—that’s not good.”
Yan Xiang was super obedient and immediately closed his mouth to chew. His cheeks were bulging, like a little hamster.
That he was born so cute was thanks to having a father who was a male lead.
Qiao Wei looked at the oil on her fingers, looked left and right, and found nowhere to wipe it, so she subconsciously glanced at Yan Lei.
Yan Lei paused, took something out of his pants pocket, and threw it on the table.
It was actually a handkerchief?
Qiao Wei was a bit surprised. “You carry a handkerchief with you?”
Yan Lei glanced at her. “Isn’t that what you insisted I carry?”
He had married a cultured wife.
At the time of the group blind date, a young military officer like him was a popular candidate. His leaders and comrades all advised him to consider carefully. They all said, “That girl doesn’t look like someone who can endure hardship.”
But he himself had little education and really wanted to find someone who was educated. A high school diploma was already considered a high level of education, and she was also good-looking.
Later, facts proved that the leaders and comrades were right. Not only was she completely unable to endure hardship, but her petty-bourgeois ideology was also very serious. She was lazy and despised the simple, hardworking peasant brothers.
Yan Lei chewed twice, making sure he hadn’t smacked his lips just now.
Those bad living habits he had brought from the countryside had all been corrected, one by one, under her disdain.
Not smacking his lips, carrying a handkerchief, washing his feet every day, bathing often… he had done all of it, but so what? She still ran away.
Yan Lei glared fiercely at Qiao Wei and lowered his head to shovel rice into his mouth.
Qiao Wei wiped her hands with the handkerchief, deep in thought.
After dinner, Yan Lei carried the bucket into the kitchen to deal with the bathwater.
Qiao Wei consciously started to clean up the bowls and chopsticks. Chores should be shared by everyone; he worked, and she worked too.
Although there was a lot of information in her brain, it was all like watching a movie; when she really entered the scene, she had to adapt. For example, there was no dish soap specifically for bowls and dishes here; the tool for washing dishes was a loofah sponge.
A loofah sponge could also wash away grease, but it didn’t have the effect of sterilization and disinfection. Qiao Wei still felt uncomfortable about it for a moment.
Sighing, she would just have to adapt slowly.
The sky grew dark.
Yan Lei rinsed the washbasin clean and hung it on the wall.
Qiao Wei had already moved the small dining table under the eaves according to her memory.
Yan Xiang, with his little short legs, ran back and forth, taking the cleaned bowls from the bucket and placing them upside down on the small wooden table to dry—he was especially sensible.
“Yan Xiang,” Yan Lei wiped his hands dry. “Go back to the room.”
His expression was stern as he looked at Qiao Wei.
Qiao Wei patted Yan Xiang gently, and Yan Xiang went back to his own room.
“Follow me,” Yan Lei said, then turned and entered the main room.
Qiao Wei washed her hands, wiped them dry, and followed him in. She turned left into the west room; the study was empty, then she entered the bedroom inside. Yan Lei was standing there with his arms crossed.
His body must have been tense, as the muscles on his arms were bulging.
This tension was like an attack, and also like a defense.
As Qiao Wei entered, he raised his eyes to look at her, his eyes dark and deep, his gaze lingering.
Qiao Wei understood. The matter of the original owner abandoning her husband and child couldn’t just pass without being mentioned.
She backed out and closed the door of the west room, then closed the partition door between the study and the bedroom. Two layers of doors to prevent Yan Xiang from hearing anything.
With the doors closed, Yan Lei spoke first. “Let’s talk.”
Qiao Wei said calmly, “What do you want me to say?”
She couldn’t say anything either. After all, the one who wanted to elope wasn’t her. But she was already Qiao Weiwei, and she couldn’t say it wasn’t her.
She said, “You speak, I’m listening.”
Yan Lei stared at her, confirming she was calm, not sulking, not in a cold war, not being sarcastic.
He pulled a folded object from his pants pocket and threw it onto the bed.
Qiao Wei bent over, picked it up, and unfolded it. It was the letter the original owner had left for Yan Lei before eloping. She didn’t need to open it again; the information about the content of this letter in her brain had already been activated.
Yan Lei said, “State your position. Are we going to continue living together, or are we getting a divorce?”
Qiao Wei was silent for a moment, then told the man, “I want to have a home.”
Yan Lei frowned. “So that means we’re not divorcing?”
Qiao Wei thought about it. “If you really want to divorce, then let’s divorce. If you don’t want to divorce, then we won’t.”
Yan Lei’s expression darkened. “When did I say I wanted to divorce?”
It was clearly her issue; why was the blame being pinned on him?
Qiao Wei realized he had misunderstood. She explained, “I meant that I’m leaving the decision to you.”
Yan Lei pursued the question, “So do you want to divorce or not?”
Qiao Wei looked at him and felt he seemed very persistent about having her give a final answer. She had a sudden realization and said, “I don’t want to divorce.”
She looked into his eyes and told him, “You are an excellent man, and I want to continue living with you.”
It must be a man’s self-esteem, Qiao Wei thought. Because in that letter, the original owner said she felt unhappy and joyless living with Yan Lei and wanted to end this pain.
The way to end it was to go find another man.
Yan Lei’s self-esteem and self-confidence must have been greatly damaged.
So she didn’t look away, gazing straight into Yan Lei’s eyes to show sincerity.
Saying he was an excellent man wasn’t flattery either. Because she had read this book, and as the male lead, he was indeed excellent. Just based on her observations of him today, she could detect the excellent qualities in him.
Therefore, her praise was sincere.
Who knew, Yan Lei looked away, feeling unnatural.
Not to mention people of this era, even in Qiao Wei’s era, there were still many people who didn’t know how to accept praise or the expression of feelings from others. This was a common ailment among Chinese people.
He was unnatural for two seconds, then turned his gaze back. “So that means we’re not divorcing, right?”
Qiao Wei nodded in confirmation. “Yes!”
Yan Lei took the farewell letter from her hand, tore it to shreds in a few moves, and threw it into the dustpan by the door.
“Then let’s live our lives properly from now on. You don’t need to worry about supporting the family, and I don’t have any other requirements for you.” He said, “Just take good care of the house and take good care of Xiangxiang.”
When saying “You don’t need to worry about supporting the family,” he seemed to have regained his self-esteem and self-confidence.
But it was indeed true; as a military cadre, his treatment was even better than that of a worker. It had indeed always been him supporting the family alone, and he had indeed given his wife and child a material life that was considered very good in this era.
As a traditional man, he certainly had the capital to be proud.
It’s just that his request was no different from hiring a nanny.
But the man was emotionally stable and seemed to have no expectations for affection in the marriage.
Qiao Wei remembered that the book wrote that Yan Lei and the female lead fell in love after marriage, but it was actually always from the female lead’s perspective, and there was no description of Yan Lei’s inner thoughts.
And even from the female lead’s perspective, the description of Yan Lei had always been “stern face,” “cold expression,” and “indifferent gaze.”
A person always being this stern, cold, and indifferent—is that interesting?!
