After carrying the children in, he came out with two buckets of water and stood at the bathroom door to take off his clothes.

He was tall and strong, and when he raised his arms, his muscles were clearly visible, giving off a strong sense of presence.

Wen Jiajia: ???

Why did this suddenly start?

She wondered, “You want to wash first?” Her clothes were already wet; couldn’t he wait a little longer?

Wei Dai walked in and said, “Let me take a shower with you.”

Wen Jiajia: No big words.

Okay, they had already been honest with each other and done everything, so taking a bath together wasn’t a big deal.

Taking a bath was really just taking a bath. After all, the batteries for flashlights were very expensive.

Maybe the bed in the room wasn’t soft enough or the wall of the bathroom wasn’t rough enough; anyway, Wen Jiajia protected herself well.

Wei Dai wanted to do something, but he didn’t bring a condom, so his idea was dashed before he could even express it.

_

Night was falling.

The sky without light pollution was truly beautiful, with stars shining brightly.

Wen Jiajia was sometimes very sentimental, like now: the night view of the sky was so beautiful that she didn’t feel tired and kept staring at it with her head held high.

Occasionally, when she saw a shooting star pass by, she felt a little surprised.

Wei Dai really didn’t understand what was so special about this, but he respected his wife’s hobby. After all, his wife could tolerate his love of sleeping shirtless.

“When I’m free, I’ll make a few recliners so you can lie in the yard at night and watch to your heart’s content,” said Wei Dai.

Wen Jiajia asked, “Really?”

“How could it be false?” Wei Dai thought, as long as you don’t mind there being too many mosquitoes, it’s fine.

Back in the house, Wei Dai thought about the mosquitoes and wondered whether he should buy some screens. The area was near a mountain and a lake, so there were a lot of mosquitoes, big and poisonous.

Wen Jiajia was also thinking about something. She asked Wei Dai, “When can we plant vegetables in the two plots we were allocated?”

Wei Dai came back to his senses. “We can go now. But isn’t it too cold? It’s hard to plant before the temperature rises. In previous years, people in the family quarters waited until early March to plant.”

Wen Jiajia nodded.

It doesn’t matter if it’s cold for onions and garlic; they are easy to grow. Some vegetables really can’t be grown in too cold weather.

She missed the warmth of her hometown a little.

After reading some books and doing some exercises, it was time to turn off the lights.

Wen Jiajia lay down on the bed, resting her head on Wei Dai’s arm, and asked, “Do you know Wang Fuhai?”

Wei Dai was surprised. “Yes, you know him?”

Wen Jiajia replied, “I met his wife, Sister Hong, when I went to the city today.”

Wei Dai frowned slightly. “Well… their family has a lot going on in the family quarters. I heard that Sister Hong is pretty good.”

Wen Jiajia understood that Wang Fuhai was not a good person in the family.

Wei Dai didn’t really know much. “Wang Fuhai and I have an average relationship. We just nod and say hello when we meet, but we don’t interact privately. I heard most of his family stories from others. Others said he has five children, three of whom are his nephews and nieces. His eldest brother died of illness, and later his parents couldn’t raise the three children, so they came to find him with the three children.”

After that, the room fell silent.

Ten seconds later, Wen Jiajia poked him. “And then? Go ahead.”

Wei Dai smiled and said, “I don’t know. I’m not familiar with him, and I didn’t deliberately ask about his family’s affairs.”

Wen Jiajia sighed. This guy is really like that. He gets easily beaten when he finishes his words.

But it’s easy to imagine that Sister Hong’s home is probably not very peaceful. How can a house of dozens of square meters with people living on the ninth floor be considered peaceful?

“Not nine people,” Wei Dai said. “There was trouble in his family before, and it was even reported to the teacher. Later, his parents moved back, leaving only those children. When his parents left, Wang Fuhai knelt down and kowtowed, promising to raise his nephews and nieces.”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t know what happened later?” Wen Jiajia asked. “Also, it sounds similar to our family.”

“What? Not at all.” Wei Dai said, “His children are all raised by Sister Hong. His promise is useless.”

He was willing to raise Wen Chun and Wen Xuan with Jiajia. It was truly “together,” which was completely different.

Wen Jiajia sighed. “Sister Hong is indeed very hard-working. She went to the city today, carrying a one-year-old child on her back. She was skinny, but Sister Hong took good care of the child, and he didn’t even cry.”

Wei Dai didn’t want to talk about this topic, as other people’s family affairs were not interesting.

He gently smoothed Wen Jiajia’s hair with his fingers and said, “I asked about family members’ jobs today, and they said there are only two jobs in the military area: the school and the hospital.”

Wen Jiajia was shocked and supported herself on her elbows. “There are positions in the hospital? That’s impossible.”

Doctors and nurses working in hospitals must have studied medicine, right? At least a specialist degree.

Wei Dai rubbed her head. “The hospital also has logistics.”

Well, no wonder.

Hospital logistics is indeed a good job.

If it were in the past, Wen Jiajia would definitely not be picky. After all, equality in the workplace is important these days.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a night soil collector, a logistics worker, a doctor, or even a researcher; it’s all the same.

Even doctors and researchers are at risk, but night soil collectors and hospital logistics staff are definitely not at risk.

But now… Wen Jiajia couldn’t help but think of her golden finger, which only played a little auxiliary role in life. Now that she no longer needs to worry about life, it would be a bit of a waste to only synthesize some daily necessities.

Wen Jiajia lay down again, and after a while asked, “Is there a pharmaceutical factory in the city?”

Wei Dai was stunned for a moment, then he reacted. “You want to work in a pharmaceutical factory?”

Wen Jiajia didn’t answer, but he smiled again. “You heard about the pharmaceutical factory from Sister Hong.”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “How did you know?”

Wei Dai replied, “Sister Hong has relatives in the pharmaceutical factory, and people in the family compound ask her to change the red medicine.”

Other drugs from the pharmaceutical factory cannot be leaked, but topics like mercurochrome can be leaked.

Of course, the military hospital also has this, but the military hospital is far from the family area. If you get bumped or bruised, don’t go to the hospital if you have mercurochrome at home.

Wen Jiajia said softly, “There is mercury in mercurochrome; it’s not good to use it.”

“You still understand this?”

“Read more books and newspapers!”

Well, Wei Dai understood and was once again impressed by the intellectuals.

He told Wen Jiajia about the pharmaceutical factory in detail. “The pharmaceutical factory is actually quite close to the military area. The first stop after you enter the city is Chengmen Station, and then walk for more than ten minutes to reach the pharmaceutical factory.”

Wen Jiajia pondered.

If this is the case, you can use a bicycle as a means of commuting and get there in an hour.

“This factory is quite large. I heard that there are 2,000 to 3,000 people working there, so it’s considered a large factory.”

Wen Jiajia understood that in a dozen years or so, the company would most likely face the problem of having too many employees and running into financial deficits.

Now these factories rely on the state for their livelihood. The state provides them with channels, and no matter what the products they produce are, they will be received by sister units.

After more than a decade, they will have to rely on the market for their livelihood. State-owned factories that have no ability and only rely on their old capital will face the risk of bankruptcy or restructuring. By then, the wave of layoffs will begin to show signs.

But these have nothing to do with Wen Jiajia. She will only be there for a few years.

She still has to take the college entrance examination, and she is still aiming to make a fortune.

Wei Dai finally said, “It’s okay, I’ve only been here a few days. There’s no need to rush. I’ll go to the pharmaceutical factory when I get a chance, and then ask those well-informed people to see if I can find a way to get in.”

Fine.

___

Morning.

Not having to work is actually quite relaxing, and it can especially corrode people’s ambition.

Wei Dai left early, but Wen Jiajia still slept until noon.

Waking up naturally is so comfortable!

Wen Jiajia rubbed her eyes, sat up, and yawned drowsily.

The temperature was a bit low today, so she took out her thick cotton jacket and put it on.

This is the local early spring weather. Frost and freezing are normal, so some vegetables cannot be planted so early unless there is a greenhouse.

She had porridge again this morning.

Wei Dai had taken out some pickled vegetables and fried them, adding chopped green pepper and chopped spring bamboo shoots, making it particularly fragrant.

The environment shapes the taste. She now prefers this kind of pickled vegetable to zhacai.

“Did your uncle go to dig spring bamboo shoots this morning?” Wen Jiajia asked the two children who were playing puzzles on the sofa.

Wen Chun nodded with messy hair, ran to the door, and pulled out the bamboo basket. “Uncle dug four.”

“Wow! Such big bamboo shoots.”

Spring bamboo shoots are bigger than winter bamboo shoots. Just four of them are enough to stir-fry two dishes.

Wei Dai had not only dug bamboo shoots but also bought pig’s trotters.

When Wen Jiajia finished her porridge and was about to wash the dishes, she saw pig’s trotters soaking in water in the basin.

Wen Xuan squatted beside them with her butt sticking out, wondering, “Aunt, is it New Year’s Day again today?”

There are pig’s trotters, chicken, and fish.

She doesn’t know yet that there is still meat in the cupboard.

Wen Jiajia pretended to be serious and teased her, “Isn’t it? How old are you now?”

Wen Xuan counted on her fingers. “Four years old.”

She still remembers that Grandpa Wei taught her.

Wen Jiajia thought, you are not even four years old yet. But that is how it is now; we look at the year, not the birthday.

So she said, “You will be one year older during the Chinese New Year, right? After today, you will be five years old.”

Wen Xuan frowned. She is about to be five years old?

At the age of five, she should be able to climb trees.

But now she can’t even hug a tree—what’s going on?

Wen Jiajia made everyone laugh after making them laugh. She ignored the puzzled Wen Xuan and let her go play.

She rolled up her sleeves and began to plant vegetables in the yard.

The soil was easy to dig. After loosening it in one go, Wen Jiajia suddenly realized she had no seeds. She slapped her head and put down the hoe.

“You’re stupid,” she muttered to herself.

Since we can’t grow vegetables for the time being, let’s just deal with the ingredients.

She put the fish aside first and killed the chicken.

Wen Jiajia is a professional at butchering chickens. She didn’t dare to do it before, but after killing a duck once, she learned it by herself, and her hands never trembled again.

Killing a chicken requires a sharp knife, boiling water, and a cold heart… oh, she has them all.

So the chicken died very peacefully, not cruelly at all—it died with a clucking sound.

“Chun’er, come and bring in the chicken blood,” Wen Jiajia shouted towards the room.

Wen Xuan ran out quickly. She was not afraid either. Her eyes widened, and she asked, “Aunt, are we having a treat today?”

Wen Jiajia handed her the bowl of chicken blood and asked, “How did you know?”

Wen Chun replied, “The New Year has just passed; it’s impossible to celebrate the New Year.”

Having said that, she ran in again.

My aunt is coaxing my younger sister. My younger sister is so silly.

She bit her lip and wanted to invite her neighbor’s friend to her house. She had eaten cakes at her friend’s house yesterday.

But she has to entertain guests at home…

“Chun’er, aren’t you going out to play today?” Wen Jiajia asked her again.

Wen Chun pursed his lips. “I didn’t comb my hair.”

Wen Jiajia had forgotten about it. When she turned around, she saw that the two girls were a bit sloppy.

Wen Xuan walked over and said, “Aunt, can I invite Xie Yi and his brother to come to our house to play with building blocks?”

“Sure,” Wen Jiajia agreed happily. Children should play with children.

Wen Chun really became more lively, and she was a little happy.