Chapter 14

It’s easy to start a fire on the earthen stove, but it’s hard to put it out.

If there’s too much firewood, you can pour water over it to extinguish it. If not too much, just let it burn and add water to the pot. When the fire naturally goes out after the meal, the water will be hot enough to wash dishes.

Hot water dissolves oil, and when using a loofah to scrub, although not as effective as dishwashing detergent, Qiao Wei thought it looked quite clean.

Yan Xiang was still diligent.

He was small and couldn’t carry too much at once, but he would make trips, taking the cleaned dishes and utensils to the table under the eaves to dry.

When the sun was high, Qiao Wei finished cleaning the kitchen, wiped her hands, and saw small beads of sweat on Yan Xiang’s forehead.

“Change your clothes,” she called out to him.

She went into Yan Xiang’s room, searched for a while, and found a sleeveless shirt for him. “Wear this.”

In the hot summer, wearing a shirt with sleeves and a collar for such a small child would be uncomfortable. Captain Zhao’s child, Jun Jun, just wore a worn-out sleeveless shirt. It might be a bit dirty, but it looked cool and wasn’t restrictive.

Yan Xiang was very happy.

Without Qiao Wei’s help, he unbuttoned the shirt by himself.

Thank goodness, Qiao Wei thought. She knew taking care of children could be exhausting. The original owner’s memories included the frustration and fatigue of taking care of a child, but fortunately, when Qiao Wei took over, the most tiring stage had already passed.

Look, Yan Xiang could eat, pee, pull up his pants, dress himself, and even help with some household chores. It was much more convenient.

Yan Xiang quickly changed into the sleeveless shirt in high spirits, clapping his chubby hands on his belly and saying, “Comfortable!”

Qiao Wei couldn’t help but smile. “Does Yan Xiang like wearing sleeveless shirts?”

“Like!”

“Then why didn’t you wear it before?”

In the morning, wasn’t it Yan Xiang who put on his clothes?

Yan Xiang raised his dark eyes, looking very innocent. “Mom doesn’t like it.”

“Mom doesn’t like me wearing sleeveless shirts.”

“Mom doesn’t like me playing with Jun Jun and the others.”

Qiao Wei paused.

Memory triggered it, and upon checking her recollections, it was indeed true.

Oh well.

Qiao Wei rubbed her forehead and said, “From now on, if Yan Xiang wants to wear something, wear it. As long as it feels comfortable, we can wear it.”

Yan Xiang was very happy. “Okay!”

Compared to clothes that looked advanced or beautiful, such a small child naturally preferred comfortable ones.

Qiao Wei stood up, hands on hips, looking around.

Clothing washed, dishes were cleaned, and the room was tidied. The child would soon be able to play quietly on his own when he grew up.

Seemingly, there wasn’t much else to do.

Qiao Wei returned to the study. The small bookshelf was tightly packed with books, with no gaps left. She scanned it and found that she had read or knew the titles of only a handful. Most of them were books she hadn’t read or even heard of.

However, judging by the titles alone, even in this era, they could be considered popular literature and would likely be serious literature in later times.

The original owner seemed to spend a lot of time reading these books.

In an era without the internet or even television, Qiao Wei had no choice but to randomly pick a book, sit under the eaves outside, and read slowly.

Occasionally, she looked up to see Yan Xiang playing happily in the shade of the trees in the yard.

Literary works from this era were difficult for young people in later times to concentrate on. Not to mention reading books; even watching TV dramas had to be done at double speed. Some went further, considering watching a cut version equivalent to having watched the entire show.

But Qiao Wei had experienced sickness and death. Her temperament had long been tempered by the pain that even medical-grade morphine couldn’t suppress, or, in a sense, had polished.

She was someone who could focus.

The cicadas were constantly chirping.

Yan Xiang got tired and went back to the room to take a nap.

He woke up again, went to pee, drank water, and continued playing.

Occasionally looking up, his mother was still sitting under the eaves, reading.

Qiao Wei kept reading until a shadow cast over her.

The surroundings suddenly darkened, and she naturally looked up to see Yan Lei’s face.

“What are you doing?” he asked, towering over her.

He was already tall, and he was still standing while Qiao Wei sat.

If she had only one book in her hands, Yan Lei wouldn’t ask such an apparently redundant question. However, he glanced at the table beside her, where a thick stack of books was piled.

All from her bookshelf. Although she revisited them, she usually spent several days on one book. Suddenly taking out so many books—what was she doing?

Qiao Wei’s eyes were sore. She stood up and rubbed the inner corners of her eyes. “Nothing, just organizing the books. What time is it? Why did you come back so early?”

 “Today, the bathhouse is open. Did you forget?” Yan Lei tossed a net bag onto the table and said firmly, “They say peaches are nutritious.”

After saying this, he turned and went inside.

Qiao Wei took a moment to react—yesterday, the doctor at the hospital mentioned that she was malnourished.

So, today, he brought back peaches.

How did he know she couldn’t buy fruits today? Qiao Wei smirked.

Yan Xiang was grabbing toys from inside the house, and when he saw his father, he exclaimed, “Dad’s back!”

A man’s voice came from inside, “Grab your things; let’s go take a bath.”

Yan Xiang cheered, “Bath time!”

Although they could wash in the basin at home, it was more fun with the splashing water in the bathhouse.

Yan Lei changed into casual clothes, wearing just a sleeveless undershirt. It was hot in the summer, and many men dressed like that.

He came out to find a basin but noticed no one in the yard. The number of books on the small table had halved.

Suddenly, Qiao Wei briskly came out of the kitchen, carrying the remaining books, leaving only a few on the table. She then turned and went back into the kitchen.

Yan Lei was puzzled. He followed and stood at the kitchen door, seeing that the books she took were piled on the kitchen floor next to the firewood.

“Why?” Yan Lei frowned.

“These books are no longer needed,” Qiao Wei said.

Yan Lei was astonished. Because these books were her treasures, if he randomly flipped through them, she could give him the cold shoulder for a whole day.

Why do you suddenly not want them?

“If you don’t want them, sell them,” he suggested.

Bookstores buy back old books, and if not, they can be sold to scrap dealers. Why pile them up in the kitchen?

Qiao Wei pondered for a moment, deciding to explain it to him.

“The ideas in these books are not very good. I don’t want people to see them,” she said. “I feel that in the future, the scrutiny will become stricter. You are a soldier, subject to even stricter rules, and I’m afraid it will have a negative impact if someone sees these.”

It’s quite troublesome.

Qiao Wei originally planned to spend the afternoon leisurely reading a book, but she was well aware of the thoughts of the original host. So, it was apparent what type of books she liked to read, which didn’t align with the mainstream ideology of this era.

Qiao Wei sensed that something was amiss, quickly flipped through the entire book, and was sure that the content of this book might be problematic in this era.

Now, it might not be a big deal, but in more stringent times, trouble could arise.

But why didn’t Yan Lei face any issues due to this in the original text?

Suddenly, Qiao Wei remembered. In the original text, after Lin Xixi got married, she asked Yan Lei not to dwell on the past since he had married her. He disposed of all the belongings of his deceased wife, but the details weren’t explained, only mentioning that they were all “handled.”

Now, without this plot, Qiao Wei, as the replacement for the original host, had to deal with it.

“So, I think it’s better to burn them,” she said. “It can be used to start a fire when cooking, perfect.”

Yan Lei fell silent for a moment and asked, “How bad are they?”

“They are fine when there’s nothing going on,” Qiao Wei said. “But right now, if the authorities find out, it might just be a couple of criticisms, I think.”

She looked at Yan Lei. “I’m afraid that when there is an issue…”

Later on, Yan Lei was able to reach such a high position; he couldn’t be a fool and lacked political sense. On the contrary, although he wasn’t highly educated, his mind was sharp, especially in political matters.

It was just that all along, the original host didn’t let him touch those precious books, and if he had known what was inside those books, he would have probably dealt with them long ago.

Actually, Yan Lei, in the army, was one of the first to sense the changing trends of the times, but he didn’t expect that under his nose, there were inappropriate books on his wife’s bookshelf.

Fortunately, she woke up.

Yan Lei looked at Qiao Wei and said seriously, “Then burn them.”

He asked again, “Just these?”

There were still many books on the bookshelf, and he needed to know if the others were safe and reliable.

“I’m not sure. I have to go through all of them to confirm,” Qiao Wei said.

Printed materials of this time often had dense paragraphs and longer paragraphs compared to later times, where one sentence equaled one paragraph with wider spacing.

At this moment, publications were different; a paragraph’s worth of text here would be equivalent to two pages in later times. The characters were numerous and dense, with excessively long paragraphs.

Qiao Wei, despite having developed the ability to read ten lines at a glance in the information explosion era, almost went blind after reading for an afternoon.

Seeing Yan Lei furrow his brows, she realized there was a flaw in her words—these books were all the original host’s, and in an era where resources and books were scarce, every book had almost been worn out by the original host.

She said she had to go through them again to confirm.

Qiao Wei wasn’t afraid. She calmly told him, “Before you found me, I was actually running a high fever. I had a fever for almost two days and nights. It’s lucky I didn’t die. When I woke up, I felt like my mind was confused. No, not confused, but there was a different feeling from before. Some things I can’t remember, and some thoughts have changed.”

“Yan Lei, you promised me yesterday that you would consider the previous me as already dead.”

The two locked eyes for a moment, her gaze clear.

Yan Lei nodded. “Alright. Finish dealing with it.”

He turned and went out, picked up a basin from the wall, and went inside.

A family of three, two basins, each for the husband and wife, headed out to take a bath.

In the basin were towels, soap pieces, and a clean change of clothes.

Yan Lei held the basin in his hands, while Qiao Wei placed it against her hip. The two held hands, with Yan Xiang in the middle.

They hadn’t walked far when they ran into Zhao, the leader of the militia.

This was Qiao Wei’s first time seeing Zhao, of course, as glimpsing him through the original host’s memories didn’t count.

Zhao, the militia leader, had dark skin and wasn’t as tall as Yan Lei, but he was strong—a man resembling an iron tower.

Captain Zhao’s family is quite fertile.

Heading out for a bath, there’s a string of people: the oldest son, Gangzi, 14 years old; the second daughter, Yingzi, 11 years old; the third son, Huazi, 9 years old; and the fourth son, Junzi, 5 years old, the little boy who wants to play with Yan Xiang today. The youngest, Wu Nier, hasn’t been named yet; he’s only two years old.

Today, the bathhouse is open, and their whole family is going to wash. The military issues bath tickets for free. If they were to wash in basins at home, they would have to heat the water by burning wood and coal, which would cost more. With a large family like theirs, it’s more cost-effective for everyone to go out on bathhouse open days. They rarely wash at home by burning water.

Both families greeted each other, “Let’s go take a bath.”

They walked together, and along the way, there were other families in groups of three or two, all military dependents still living in the old area, heading to the large courtyard together.

Someone on the road grumbled, “If only we could live in the big courtyard.”

Yan Lei heard it and couldn’t help but glance at Qiao Wei.

This is something his wife has always held a grudge about. In the past, if she heard such words, she would pull her face down and not give him a good expression.

But today, she seemed to ignore it. Holding Yan Xiang’s chubby hand, she swung it back and forth.

“Sweety, come!” Qiao Wei lifted her arm with force.

Yan Lei followed suit. Both lifted her up, and Yan Xiang raised her feet, suspended in the air. After a while, she was put down, giggling.

Yan Lei looked at Qiao Wei again.

The setting sun slanted, and her smile was brighter than the sunlight.

After a while, Yan Lei finally shifted his gaze.

Zhao’s family happily watched.

With more people, it was livelier. Junzi insisted on having his older brother and sister lift him up. But Gangzi and Yingzi didn’t have the strength of adults, so they could only lift him for two steps before stopping.

Junzi protested. Yingzi, being the elder sister, gave him a slap on the back of his head and said, “Lifting you for two steps is already good enough.”

Blood relations suppressed the annoying younger brother.

Sister Yang scolded her, “Be gentle; don’t make Junjun dumb. He’s not smart to begin with.”

Junzi jumped and shouted, “I am smart!”

Yan Lei and Qiao Wei also turned their heads to look at Zhao’s family, a large and lively group, all laughing.

Only a young girl following behind Zhao’s family, graceful and beautiful, had a smile on her face. Her eyes were fixed on Yan Lei and Qiao Wei through the crowd.

She was Lin Xixi.