On the way to fetch water, she saw a few people, but since they were all strangers, no one greeted each other.

Lin Qingqing was quite nimble while fetching water.

Although modern people usually use tap water, many old houses in the countryside still have wells.

For instance, their family’s old house, although transformed into a small villa in the countryside, still has that well.

In the summer, when eating watermelon, her grandmother likes to soak the watermelon in well water, making it cool but different from the cold watermelon from the refrigerator.

Watermelon soaked in well water tastes better.

Her grandmother also prefers to use well water for washing clothes and dishes.

While using a washing machine or dishwasher is more convenient, or using tap water for smaller items is easier, her grandmother has a habit of being thrifty.

She has grown accustomed to a certain way of life, which is to prefer well water.

Moreover, Lin Qingqing grew up in the countryside, so she was familiar with the things commonly used there.

Lin Qingqing was petite, and it took her over ten trips with a small bucket just to fill a large tub in the kitchen.

Once the big wooden tub was filled with water, she found a cloth and first wiped down the square table in the living room.

After cleaning it, she wiped it dry, then placed the clean clothes and bedding from the room on the table, taking all the dirty clothes out and stacking them in the corner of the living room, and finally, she cleaned the room.

She wiped down the desk, three beds, and the floor, until the cloth no longer picked up dirt.

Of course, the Lu family didn’t have that many cleaning cloths, so she tore up some of the original owner’s clothes to use as cleaning rags.

They got home from the hospital around one-thirty, and she wasn’t sure what time it was, but Lin Qingqing estimated that at least an hour had passed.

She didn’t touch the dirty clothes in the living room, thinking she could wash them gradually later.

The quilt that the original owner had used hadn’t had its sheets changed in half a month, and she felt it was dirty, so she took it off as well.

After tidying up her sleeping area for the night, she was too lazy to clean the living room.

She didn’t know when Lu Cheng would come back.

For her, it was more important to prepare a bed in the adjacent room to avoid any awkwardness when Lu Cheng returned.

Although there was still a small one-meter bed here, there was no wardrobe, so if she moved that bed, there would be no place for the clean clothes and bedding.

Therefore, she needed either a bed or a wardrobe—these were the most urgent items to prepare.

Comparing the two, having clean clothes and bedding on the bed would easily attract dust, so she decided to buy a wardrobe to put in the room and move the idle bed to the next room for herself to sleep in.

“Haici, I want to find Aunt Qin. Can you take me there?” Just now, while he was cleaning the room, the little guy had been busy wringing out the water and handing her the cleaning cloth.

Now that the room was tidied up, he was sitting on the floor, scrubbing his little hands with soap.

“Yes!” Lu Haici was washing his hands when he heard his mom’s words.

He quickly stood up.

“Let’s go.” Lin Qingqing reached out her hand toward him.

Lu Haici was momentarily surprised. “Okay!” he responded brightly and obediently placed his hand in his mother’s.

The family compound was neither too big nor too small, but it would take several minutes to walk from the Lu family to the Yu family since one house was at the front and the other at the back.

The compound consisted of three connected yards, with the Lu family located furthest inside, and the two families on the right side closer to the exit.

However, since Lin Qingqing had come back and forth several times carrying water, she hadn’t seen anyone in those two yards.

When she reached the outer corner, she saw a few women sitting there.

Some were mending clothes, others peeling potatoes, and some were knitting.

When the women saw Lin Qingqing coming over, one of them said, “Lu Cheng’s wife, you’re out of the hospital?”

Lin Qingqing thought carefully and recalled this person from the original owner’s memories.

Half a month ago, when Lu Cheng had just brought the original owner back to the army, they had encountered a few women by the roadside, and everyone greeted Lu Cheng, who naturally introduced the original owner.

However, since the original owner hadn’t remembered these women’s names, Lin Qingqing also didn’t know how to address the woman who greeted her.

After thinking for a moment, she said, “Hello, Sister. I just got out of the hospital this afternoon.”

It seemed that news of her 41-degree fever and hospitalization had spread to several families nearby.

The woman replied, “You’re really lucky. When Aunt Yu came to call us to take you to the hospital, we saw your whole face was red, as if you were holding your breath. It scared us to death.”

Not only did the woman feel frightened, but Lin Qingqing also felt a bit scared when she heard this.

At that time, she had just crossed into the story, and the original owner must have just started to have a fever. “Thank you so much, Sister. It’s also a bit my fault. When I first came, I took the train for several days, and since it was my first long trip, I wasn’t used to it. After arriving here, I felt dizzy and thought I could tough it out, but I ended up enduring it for half a month and lost consciousness.”

“If you don’t treat a small illness, it can turn into a big one, which will cost more money,” one of the women said.

Lin Qingqing smiled at her. “That’s true. I understand that now.”

“You look like you’re recovering quickly; you’re still young and in good spirits,” someone chimed in.

Lin Qingqing said, “Thanks to the doctors… Ladies, I still have some matters to attend to at Sister Yu’s house. When I feel better, please come to my place for a visit. I don’t want to invite everyone over while I’m still recovering from my illness.”

“No need to be polite; your recovery is the most important thing.”

“That’s right, there will be plenty of opportunities to visit your home later.”

After chatting with them for a while, Lin Qingqing parted ways with the women.

As soon as Lin Qingqing left, the women began to discuss her again, watching her back.

“This girl is quite beautiful, fair and clean; I’ve never seen a girl this pale.”

“Exactly, you can tell she’s someone who has good fortune.”

“I was thinking of introducing my niece to Deputy Commander Lu.”

“Don’t even think about it; your husband is just a company commander. How is it appropriate to introduce your niece to Deputy Commander Lu?”

“Look at how young this girl is; how can she be a stepmother? That’s just ridiculous.” Some were speaking ill of Lin Qingqing.

“Come on, if being a stepmother could get you married to a deputy commander, would you refuse?”

“Exactly! Commander Lu is quite handsome, and his son is only five years old; raising him can be done well. Why can’t she marry him?”

“By the way, have any of you seen Deputy Commander Lu’s first wife?”

“His first wife didn’t follow him when he was deployed, so how could we see her?”

“Exactly! I heard that Deputy Commander Lu got married just nine months ago. His first wife had health issues and gave birth prematurely, and that’s why she passed away early. Their son was also born prematurely and wasn’t in good health, so he was raised back at home. It was only last year that he was well enough to be brought here to attend kindergarten.”

“This new wife looks gentle and well-mannered; she should be good to the child.”

“Even so, she’s still a stepmother.” The woman who had previously criticized Lin Qingqing spoke again, “How can a stepmother be good? Only time will tell someone’s true nature.”

“Lieutenant Ji’s wife is also a stepmother, and she is known as an exceptionally virtuous military wife.”

The woman thought about it and tried to pick faults in that virtuous military wife, but she really couldn’t find anything wrong.

Finally, she could only grit her teeth and say, “Only time will reveal someone’s true character; it’s only been half a year. Since she has no children of her own, she hasn’t shown her true colors yet.”

Lin Qingqing naturally didn’t know they were discussing her and the topic of stepmothers.

She had already arrived at Yu Xiuyao’s house with Lu Haici.

At this moment, Yu Xiuyao was hanging out the laundry.

She had delivered food to Lin Qingqing in the morning, stayed at the hospital until noon, returned home, and then went back to bring her food again, waiting until she was discharged. It had been a busy day.

Since there hadn’t been much going on, it was only now that she had the time to do some housework.

When she saw Lin Qingqing and Lu Haici holding hands and coming into the house, she warmly said, “Sister Qingqing, what brings you here?”

Lin Qingqing replied, “Sister, I want to buy some cabinets for the house, but I don’t know where to get them.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Xiuyue said, “You can go to the nearby village; there are carpenters there. Just find a carpenter’s house to buy from. Once you’re feeling better, I’ll take you.”

The military base was close to the county town, so going to the countryside wasn’t far.

Now it was 1963, and free trade measures had just begun, so carpenters would privately take jobs.

During the upcoming ten years of hardship, various organizations like the Little Red Army would emerge, and such private trades would be labeled as speculation and become more cautious.

Lin Qingqing gratefully said, “Thank you, Sister! I feel much better now. Are you free tomorrow? If you are, could you take me? I also want to get some food and vegetables for the house so I can cook.”

Yu Xiuyue replied, “You can cook for yourself? That’s great! I have some vegetables at home; you can just come over and take them.”

Her yard was full of green vegetables like greens, eggplants, and cucumbers, all flourishing.

Lin Qingqing looked at the vegetables in the yard and didn’t hesitate. “Then can you lend me some rice, eggs, and vegetables? I’ll return them after I buy more tomorrow. We have nothing at home, and we have to eat at the cafeteria tonight and tomorrow morning, which isn’t as convenient as cooking at home.” In fact, Lin Qingqing really enjoyed cooking.

Yu Xiuyue didn’t hesitate to offer and asked, “Sure! What do you need? Let’s see what I have.”

Lin Qingqing thought for a moment. “I’d like to borrow two pounds of rice, four eggs, some potatoes and greens, and two cucumbers. I plan to make egg fried rice tonight and mashed potatoes tomorrow morning.”

Yu Xiuyue said, “I have all of those; I’ll go get them for you.” She set down the clothes she was partially drying.

Seeing this, Lin Qingqing helped finish drying the clothes.

By the time Yu Xiuyue came out, the clothes were already done.

Yu Xiuyue was both amused and exasperated. “You… I thought this girl had been raised well and might not be suitable for work, but seeing this, she seems quite diligent.”

Yu Xiuyue set down the basket and picked a handful of greens and four cucumbers from the yard. “Our yard is small, so we can only grow these things.”

“Thank you, Sister. By the way, I noticed your yard has a higher wall, while ours has a lower one. Can we make ours higher?” Lin Qingqing preferred higher walls for better privacy.