Chapter 161: Shabby House

Cheng Jingmo had Yu Xiangnian hold the flashlight while he applied the cooling ointment to her welts.

The ointment was yellowish and had a strong smell, but it felt cool and soothing on her skin, relieving the itching.

After he finished, Cheng Jingmo told Yu Xiangnian to sleep and stripped down to his shorts.

Yu Xiangnian was surprised and whispered, “What are you doing?”

“I’m letting the fleas bite me instead.”

Yu Xiangnian chuckled silently, “That won’t work. The fleas will still prefer to bite me.”

Cheng Jingmo: “?”

“They prefer tender skin.”

Cheng Jingmo said, “Let’s try it first. Tomorrow, I’ll get some medicine to sprinkle around.”

After this ordeal, neither of them felt sleepy anymore. They lay in bed with their eyes closed.

Sensing that Cheng Jingmo was still awake, Yu Xiangnian tentatively touched his abs.

Years of training had given him impressive abs that felt great to the touch.

Cheng Jingmo let her touch him and occasionally stroked her smooth hand.

They didn’t know when they fell asleep, but Yu Xiangnian was awakened by a loud knocking on the door.

She opened her eyes to find only herself and Xiao Jie on the bed.

Yu Xiangnian got up and opened the door.

Cheng Shuansuo’s wife, Zhang Hongli, stood there with a half-smile, “Sister-in-law, we’re hosting a banquet for you today. The neighbors have been busy all morning. It’s time for you to get up.”

Yu Xiangnian’s face turned red instantly. She glanced outside.

Indeed, several middle-aged women were cutting and washing vegetables, all looking at her.

Yu Xiangnian quickly said, “Sorry, I overslept.”

“Come and help,” Zhang Hongli said.

“Oh,” Yu Xiangnian asked, “Where’s the bathroom?”

Zhang Hongli pointed outside the wall, “Out there.”

Yu Xiangnian grabbed two pieces of toilet paper, crossed the courtyard, gave a friendly yet awkward smile to the women helping, and headed outside.

The women watched her, whispering among themselves.

“Wow! Jianwa is really lucky to marry a wife who looks like a fairy!”

“She’s truly beautiful, but with her delicate skin, she doesn’t look like she’s good for childbearing!”

“Exactly. Jianwa’s been married for over a year, and her belly is still flat.”

“…”

Their chatter was interrupted by a scream. As they wondered what happened, they saw Yu Xiangnian running out of the bathroom, looking terrified.

Just then, Cheng Jingmo returned with a load of water. Seeing him as her savior, Yu Xiangnian ran over and grabbed his clothes.

“Cheng Jingmo, I stepped on maggots! Ah…!!!”

She was jumping around like the ground was hot.

The women in the yard burst into laughter at her words.

Cheng Jingmo, balancing the water on his shoulder, patted her shoulder to calm her down.

“Let me clean it up first, then you can go back in.”

Yu Xiangnian was still covered in goosebumps.

When she first entered the bathroom, the stench was overwhelming, and she had covered her nose and mouth, not paying attention to the ground. It wasn’t until she heard the squishing sound that she looked down.

She saw many maggots squirming on the ground, even near her feet.

The squishing sound was the maggots being crushed under her feet.

She screamed reflexively and ran out.

Now, she realized how embarrassed she had been.

Feeling both aggrieved and embarrassed, she pouted, “My shoes are dirty. You have to wash them for me.”

“Okay,” Cheng Jingmo said. “I’ll pour the water into the tank first.”

Cheng Jingmo carried the water into the yard. As he passed the women, he nodded slightly, “Thank you for your hard work, ladies.”

The women replied, “Not at all…”

Yu Xiangnian followed Cheng Jingmo into the courtyard. While Cheng Jingmo poured the water, Yu Xiangnian smiled warmly at the group of women and introduced herself, “Hello, sisters. I’m Cheng Jingmo’s wife, Yu Xiangnian.”

The women smiled back, “Hello, hello.”

Yu Xiangnian said, “Sorry for making you laugh earlier.”

The women awkwardly chuckled, “No, no.”

After putting away the yoke and water buckets, Cheng Jingmo took Yu Xiangnian back to their room.

Cheng Jingmo asked, “Why did you get up?”

Usually, Yu Xiangnian would still be sleeping at this time.

Yu Xiangnian replied, “I woke up when I heard noises outside.”

“The supply and marketing cooperative just opened. I’ll go buy some basins and other things. Take off your shoes; I’ll wash them tonight.”

Yu Xiangnian noticed Cheng Jingmo’s sweat-drenched appearance, more than he usually sweated during exercises.

“How many trips did you make?” she asked.

“Five,” Cheng Jingmo said. “I’ll clean the bathroom. You can use it in five minutes.”

After Cheng Jingmo left, Yu Xiangnian took off her shoes disdainfully and threw them into a corner.

Xiao Jie woke up too. Yu Xiangnian checked her watch—it was eight o’clock.

Cheng Jingmo had already made five trips for water, which meant he had started around six o’clock.

So, he had only slept two or three hours last night.

After washing up, Yu Xiangnian grabbed some candies and went outside to share with the women. She took a small stool and sat with them to help prepare vegetables.

The weather was quite cold, so Yu Xiangnian wore a new dark gray cotton jacket.

Xiao Jie, still not familiar with the other children in the family, stayed by Yu Xiangnian’s side, helping with the vegetables.

Cheng Jingmo was busy all morning, as were the rest of the family.

The previous night had been too dark for Yu Xiangnian to see Cheng Jingmo’s home properly, but now she took a good look around.

In Nancheng, she had seen many rural houses, but Cheng Jingmo’s house was truly indescribable.

It was the most dilapidated home Yu Xiangnian had ever seen.

The house was made of mud bricks with thatched roofs, built very low, and the interior was very dark. The plaster on the walls was peeling off in patches.

The main house had five rooms: a central hall and four rooms where Cheng Jingmo’s parents, Cheng Shuanzhu’s family, Cheng Shuansuo’s family, and they lived.

There was also an annex with three rooms: a kitchen, one room for Cheng’s fifth child, fourteen-year-old Cheng Shuanqin, and another for the sixth child, eleven-year-old Cheng Shuanliu.

The second and fourth daughters were already married.

Hadn’t Cheng Jingmo been sending money home every month? How could they still be so poor after so many years?

“Hey, Jianwa’s wife!”

A woman shook Yu Xiangnian’s arm, interrupting her thoughts.

One woman, looking gossiping, said, “I heard Jianwa is a big officer in the army?”

A big officer? Did Cheng Jingmo’s rank count as that?

Yu Xiangnian’s mouth twitched, “No, he’s just an ordinary soldier.”

Another woman said, “Looking at your hands, it’s clear you don’t do much housework. If he wasn’t a big officer, wouldn’t you have to do all the chores?”

“Huh?” Yu Xiangnian didn’t understand.

What did her doing housework have to do with Cheng Jingmo being an officer?

The woman explained, “We know that big officers have servants to do the housework!”

“Not servants,” Yu Xiangnian corrected, “but housekeepers or nannies.”

Then she added, “We don’t have a housekeeper. We do our own chores.”

The women looked disappointed and said, “You don’t look like someone who does housework.”

Yu Xiangnian: “…There isn’t much housework at home. We only cook one meal a day. Whoever has time does it, and we use a washing machine for laundry.”