Chapter 52

Going out to eat was quite luxurious for people at this time, but not for families of cadres.

However, although Old Zhao’s family had all come, Lin Xixi was nowhere to be seen.

“She’s not coming no matter what,” Sister Yang explained to Qiao Wei.

It wasn’t because she, as Lin Xixi’s aunt, was harsh on her husband’s niece.

She actually liked this niece of hers, who was particularly capable and didn’t fight with her siblings over anything. Even though she hadn’t been feeling well recently, she didn’t pretend to be sick to slack off. Instead, she just silently worked, worked, and worked without saying a word.

Listening to Sister Yang’s description, Qiao Wei recalled seeing Lin Xixi’s demeanor these past few days. Indeed, she was very quiet, with no spark in her eyes.

She no longer had the sneakiness and ambition she used to have.

Watching the children eagerly eating at the dinner table while the two men drank, Qiao Wei asked Sister Yang, “I saw her with Xiao Zhang last time at the market…”

Sister Yang hurriedly explained, “They just talked, the two kids couldn’t agree, so Xiao Zhang clarified things with her. Our Xiao Xixi is a well-behaved child, she hasn’t spent a penny of others’ money. Xiao Zhang wanted to buy her something, but she firmly refused.”

“Oh, I see. So, are they still seeing each other?” Qiao Wei asked.

She had to inquire about it. After all, Lin Xixi was the original female lead, and Qiao Wei had sensed her obsession with Yan Lei before. If she clung to this obsession, it would be troublesome for Qiao Wei.

Sister Yang hesitated for a moment, but she has had a good relationship with Qiao Wei lately, especially after the recent incident, which brought them even closer. So, she said, “This child has high standards. She insists on finding someone from the city. Ah, you know, it’s not easy to find someone from the city.”

Qiao Wei was surprised.

After chatting with Sister Yang for a while, she finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing about Lin Xixi missing out on a blind date.

It was great that the original female lead had figured things out by herself.

She was grateful that there weren’t any forced rules in this world to forcibly bind the male and female leads together.

“Old Zhao is taking care of her household registration,” Sister Yang said. “This child really has her own ideas.”

Lin Xixi had finally found her way. That was a good thing. Qiao Wei expressed her support, saying, “Having an urban household registration is great. Later, we can ask Brother Zhao to arrange a job for her, so she can earn her own salary.”

But Sister Yang wasn’t as enthusiastic about this matter.

If Lin Xixi started working, then all the responsibilities would fall on her shoulders. And adding Lin Xixi to the mix meant she would have to take care of even more people.

Qiao Wei realized this and changed her tone, saying, “Let’s wait a few more years until the children are grown up and don’t need anyone to take care of them. Then we can let her work. She should be grateful to her uncle and aunt for the rest of her life.”

Only then did Sister Yang nod and say, “Yes, a few more years. At least until Wuni’er is grown up.”

Then she worried again, “Where can we find someone from the city for her?”

Lin Xixi’s idea of a “city person” referred to someone from a real city. In her eyes, the residents of small towns were no different from rural people.

Qiao Wei said, “Don’t worry, she’s still young. Who knows, she might meet the right person someday.”

Sister Yang said, “Anyway, she won’t find anyone suitable in the military.”

The restaurant was quite busy on Saturday night, with several tables occupied.

Besides the old cadres celebrating their salary increases, they even encountered two other families. These families even combined their tables and toasted each other in celebration.

It wasn’t easy for these old cadres to get a raise. For example, Old Zhao’s salary grade had reached the top for his position this time.

If he wanted another raise, he would have to be promoted.

As for Xia Hehua’s husband, Captain Fan, his salary grade was already one level lower than Old Zhao and Yan Lei’s. Now, they were two grades apart.

Moreover, after missing this opportunity, it was unclear when there would be another chance.

On the way back, the sky had darkened, and the men were slightly tipsy, visibly happy.

While Captain Zhao was happy about his salary increase, what made Yan Lei happy?

He unexpectedly held Qiao Wei’s hand and walked with her.

Sister Yang chuckled ahead. If Gangzi, Huazi, and Yingzi dared to sneak a peek, she would grab their heads and turn them away, saying, “What are you looking at?”

The children blushed. They had never seen adults, especially a man and a woman, holding hands while walking.

Early on Sunday morning, Yan Lei disappeared.

He was supposed to lay the road today. He had gone to fetch materials.

After Qiao Wei got up, she and Yan Xiang started to dig the road together.

Qiao Wei wanted to renovate the entire courtyard. Following Yan Lei’s advice, they started with the vegetable garden because plant growth required time and they needed to seize the opportunity. The second task was to work on the paths in the courtyard because the rainy season was approaching.

The road was divided into two sections: one from the courtyard gate to the house door, and the other from the house door to the toilet. By repairing these two paths, they wouldn’t have to step on a few bricks to hop around during the rainy season.

Captain Zhao’s family had repaired the road in their courtyard. They used old bricks to pave the way.

Although their courtyard looked messy due to numerous unauthorized constructions, it exuded enthusiasm for life everywhere.

In comparison, Yan Lei’s courtyard was vast and lonely.

Now, Qiao Wei wanted to change all of this.

The original plan was for Yan Lei to start laying the foundation for the road these past few nights, but Captain Zhao’s matter took up his time, so they hadn’t started yet.

Now that he had gone to fetch materials, Qiao Wei rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

The foundation didn’t need to be very deep; they just needed to shovel off a layer of soil. While Qiao Wei dug, Yan Xiang helped by dragging a dustpan to dump the soil. Mother and son worked together and quickly dug the foundation for the path.

Before nine in the morning, Yan Lei returned with several sacks of material on a cart.

“Hey, I said to wait for me before doing this,” he blamed her.

Qiao Wei replied, “We didn’t dig too deep, so it wasn’t much effort.”

Since she had already dug it, he began to repair the road.

“What’s this?” Qiao Wei asked as she approached.

“Slag,” Yan Lei said. “The bathhouse in the compound burns coal, so there’s plenty of slag.”

The broken slag was evenly spread over the foundation layer, making it almost level with the ground.

Yan Lei mixed cement mortar, took two enamel basins, and taught Yan Xiang how to evenly sprinkle the mortar on the slag, then used a wooden hammer to pound and vibrate it to let the mortar settle and permeate.

Qiao Wei didn’t need to get her hands dirty for this part, but she squatted beside them and learned along with them, often exclaiming, “Oh, so that’s how it’s done.”

Yan Lei chuckled. “High schoolers don’t know anything.”

Qiao Wei leaned her elbows on her knees, resting her chin in her hands. “High schoolers have just finished reading high school textbooks; they’re not as cultured as you think.”

Yan Lei glanced at her.

She was exactly as he had imagined her.

Once the mortar had settled and stabilized the foundation, it was finally Qiao Wei’s turn to get to work.

Yan Lei applied another layer of cement mortar on top of the foundation, inserting broken tiles on both sides as borders, while Qiao Wei arranged the collected pebbles densely in the middle.

The husband and wife worked together tirelessly, from the morning until the sun was high in the afternoon. When Yan Xiang finished lunch and woke up from his nap, rubbing his eyes and walking out of the house, he immediately exclaimed, “Wow!”

With these two cobblestone paths laid down, the courtyard seemed completely transformed.

Yan Xiang said, “My home has become more beautiful.”

His speech sounded formal, which was quite amusing.

But indeed, Yan Lei, hands on his hips, looked at it and for the first time realized that their courtyard could also look so beautiful.

Especially his vegetable plot, where green seedlings had already sprouted. It was something to look forward to.

Yan Xiang almost stepped onto the cobblestone path.

Qiao Wei exclaimed, “Ah—”

Yan Lei swiftly lifted the child into the air and said, “It’s not dry yet!”

He held Yan Xiang under his armpit and told him, “Don’t step on it for the next few days. Wait until it’s completely dry.”

Yan Xiang kicked his short legs, “Oh!”

Yan Lei turned him around and put him down, pointing to something and saying, “Look at that.”

Yan Xiang cupped his face and exclaimed loudly, “Wow!”

Sand, it was sand!

His sandbox was filled with sand.

A small shovel stuck in the sand, a small bucket upside down.

Mom and dad hadn’t lied to him; they kept their promise. There was really sand in the sandbox!

Yan Xiang ran over, pulled up the small bucket, and exclaimed again, “Wow!”

The sand had taken on the shape of the bucket and surprisingly didn’t collapse.

Qiao Wei walked over, picked up the small shovel, and shaped the sand column formed by the bucket a bit more, then picked up a small twig and drew a few lines in front.

Yan Xiang said, “It’s turned into a house!”

“Add a little water; semi-dry sand is particularly easy to shape.” Qiao Wei instructed him.

From then on, he had a brand new toy.

No other children had it.

Qiao Wei had promised Qiao Weiwei that she would make him happy.

Turning around, Yan Lei was by the well, fetching water in a bucket, taking off his vest, and wiping himself down with a towel.

After a day’s work, he was sweaty all over.

In the sunlight, the water droplets on the man’s body sparkled, his physique strong and healthy, every muscle and waistline perfect.

Qiao Wei raised her hand to shield her eyes and looked closely.

If it weren’t for these extraordinary times, life would be perfect.

After a day’s tiredness, they didn’t cook dinner that evening, nor did they make do with leftovers like at noon. The three of them went to the cafeteria in the compound together.

The compound cafeteria mainly served lunch on weekdays from Monday to Saturday. When the men went to work, the families opted for convenience.

In the evening and on weekends, when the men were at home, the families cooked at home. So, there were fewer people eating in the cafeteria.

After dinner at the cafeteria, Yan Lei and his family saw many people carrying small stools towards the square. Once or twice a month, there would be outdoor movie screenings on weekends.

Watching movies was also a major event, and everyone went there excitedly.

Living in the compound made bathing and entertainment convenient. Besides the activity room where they could play table tennis and badminton, there was also a basketball court.

It was said that Mr. Pan loved playing basketball.

Qiao Wei said, “So, there’s a movie tonight.”

Only then did Yan Lei remember that there had been a notice about a movie screening today, but after eating and drinking yesterday and being busy all day today, he had forgotten about it.

He glanced at Qiao Wei, feeling a slight nervousness.

In the old family quarters, if someone wanted to watch a movie, they had to carry a stool for quite a while, just like going to bathe. It was inconvenient in various ways.

Because of this, every time they watched a movie and returned, she would ignore him. Later, when he notified her about the movie screenings, she would look displeased. Then he simply stopped telling her. She didn’t interact with others much either, and hardly anyone would come to invite her out. Surprisingly, the house became quieter.

He hadn’t expected her to come over today while they were eating at the cafeteria.

The biggest conflict between her and him was their inability to move to the new district. He could change everything else, could do things according to her requests, but only this matter couldn’t be resolved.

Yan Lei gathered his courage and wanted to ask her if she wanted to go watch the movie.

Unexpectedly, Qiao Wei asked, “Do you want to go watch it?”

Yan Lei replied, “I’ve seen this movie several times before.”

Great. Qiao Wei said, “Let’s go then. Let’s not stay here and get bitten by mosquitoes.”

She didn’t actually want to watch. What’s so interesting about black-and-white old movies?

Moreover, in the memories left by the original owner, people were noisy, children were running around screaming, and many people were spitting everywhere.

Forget it, let’s go home.

Yan Lei breathed a sigh of relief and lifted the short-legged Yan Xiang, “Let’s go, back home.”

“I wonder if the road has dried up yet.”

“Let’s leave it for another day to dry properly.”

“Okay.”

“What should we do next?”

“Let me think.”