Chapter 56

Yan Lei walked into his own yard and saw Qiao Wei lying on the lounge chair with her shoes and socks off, her face upturned, and a book covering her face.

Their son sat on the lounge chair with bare feet, reading a book, but because his mother occupied most of the space, his little legs had to rest on his mother’s stomach.

Big bare feet shook.

Little bare feet swayed.

What a sight these two made.

“What are you doing?” Yan Lei chuckled.

Qiao Wei lowered the book from her face, squinting as she looked at him. “You’re back. Today’s not good. I don’t have the energy to cook. Let’s go to the canteen.”

Yan Xiang put down his children’s book. “Dad, today we painted the walls. They’re as white as snow.”

“Alright, let me see. How much did you paint?” Yan Lei put down his things and went straight into the house.

Upon inspection, Yan Xiang’s bedroom was unexpectedly painted.

The room looked completely different, with all four walls pure white, giving it an exceptionally clean feeling.

Coming out, Yan Lei teased Qiao Wei, “Comrade Qiao is quite capable.”

Qiao Wei placed the book back on her face. “I’m already useless. Don’t bother me. If you need something, burn paper.”

Yan Lei scolded her, “Nonsense, stop it!”

“A steadfast communist soldier, a materialist believer, isn’t afraid of anything.”

Being a materialist doesn’t mean cursing oneself to death. Yan Lei kicked the lounge chair. “Hurry up!”

Well, they’ve all crossed into the world of books. In fact, their belief in materialism isn’t that firm. Qiao Wei spat, “Bah, bah, bah.”

“I’ve brought back what you wanted,” Yan Lei said.

Qiao Wei sat up and saw Yan Lei bringing back a mesh bag. She took everything out.

A military canteen, two pairs of green army pants, all the things she wanted.

He also brought her a brown leather belt. “Use this one. It looks better with the military pants.”

Qiao Wei’s current belt was for women, narrower than the men’s belt, not matching well with the green army pants.

She forgot about the belt, but Yan Lei remembered.

Too perfect, simply a fashionable item.

“Also, here’s the messenger bag you wanted.” Yan Lei took out the bag for her. “It can hold a lot of things.”

And it’s very sturdy.

“I’ll go try it on.” Qiao Wei went into the house with a pile of things in her arms.

Yan Lei turned around and sat on the lounge chair, chatting with Yan Xiang, asking about the whitewashing they did today.

Yan Xiang’s eyes curved as he revealed a mouthful of small white teeth. “Whitewashing is so much fun. Mom rolls with the roller, and I brush with the brush.”

Yan Lei gave him a thumbs up.

He casually picked up the book Qiao Wei had left on the lounge chair, which turned out to be the agricultural guidebook bought from the county town.

From those ideologically toxic literary novels to agricultural knowledge and techniques, for a young urban woman, this was such a big improvement.

Yan Lei was deeply moved.

Yan Xiang looked at his father holding the book he had been reading in the afternoon, with a face that expressed a mixture of bitterness and satisfaction. “?”

Yan Lei flipped through the book and found it quite interesting.

Because many things in it were things he had understood since childhood. Actually, no one had deliberately taught him, but rural children naturally accumulated a lot of agricultural knowledge by following adults to work every day.

These things were common sense to them.

Now, they were printed into heavy block characters, turned into a book.

Flipping through it again, there were even some things he didn’t know.

Actually, Qiao Wei had flipped through it too, but as an urbanite who couldn’t differentiate grains, she couldn’t make sense of anything. But for someone like Yan Lei, who grew up in the countryside, he absorbed it all at once.

“So that’s it.”

“Really?”

“What exactly is this potassium? Can this potassium fertilizer only be bought from the commune? Can’t we make it ourselves?”

As he was engrossed in reading, he suddenly heard Qiao Wei call him, “Yan Lei!”

Yan Lei turned his head.

Qiao Wei was wearing a white shirt, green army pants, and the brown leather belt cinched tightly around her slender waist.

She also slung a green military messenger bag over her shoulder.

With a smile in her eyes, she stood elegantly under the eaves.

At that moment, something crashed into Yan Lei’s heart.

He felt a rush of heat and dryness in his mouth and throat, feeling both sincere and fearful, not daring to act recklessly.

As if he was frozen in place.

It wasn’t until Qiao Wei asked, “Does it look good?” as she held the messenger bag, turning around for him to see, and then turning back.

Yan Lei finally breathed a sigh of relief, his breathing returning to normal.

“Is it good-looking or not?” Qiao Wei pursued, “Say something.”

“Good-looking,” Yan Lei said, feeling that these two words were not enough to express his current feelings. However, lacking in rhetorical accumulation, he thought for a moment and found a description closest to his feelings, “Like a grown-up girl.”

Qiao Wei chuckled, “What do you mean ‘like’? I am a grown-up girl.”

Yan Lei even argued, “But you’re married, you’re a mother…”

“That’s because I got married early,” Qiao Wei said, “In terms of age, I’m still a grown-up girl!”

Isn’t it true? In modern times, she would still be in university at their age, wouldn’t she? She would just be a grown-up girl.

But here, she got married before graduating from high school and became a mother early.

It’s quite helpless.

Otherwise, at their current age, she and Yan Lei would be in the prime of their romance.

In green army uniforms and white shirts, holding hands, how beautiful would that be?

Although they couldn’t have a romance, walking hand in hand with Yan Xiang, each holding one of his little hands, as a happy family of three walking into the courtyard, was also quite beautiful.

It was mealtime, smoke rising from every household, and there weren’t many people on the road.

Occasionally, they met one or two people who couldn’t help but look at the family of three more.

Qiao Wei didn’t pay attention, but occasionally she turned her head and found Yan Lei also looking at her.

Seeing her turn her face, Yan Lei quickly looked away.

Qiao Wei: “?”

“Is it very hot?” Qiao Wei wondered, “Why is your face so red?”

“A bit hot.” Yan Lei pulled his collar. “Today is just hotter than yesterday.”

Qiao Wei didn’t feel it was hotter than yesterday, especially now that it was evening, and the sun was slanting, so the sunlight wasn’t as intense. She said, “The uniforms are still thick, huh? Oh, why didn’t you change into different clothes before coming out again?”

Yan Lei: “Forgot.”

They went to the canteen in the courtyard to get food from the lunchbox.

Qiao Wei patted her new messenger bag. “It really can hold a lot of things.”

Very practical.

Someone carrying a lunchbox and biting a steamed bun walked past, but as soon as they saw Qiao Wei, their gaze couldn’t move away. Their mouths involuntarily opened, and the steamed bun fell to the ground.

The person exclaimed and squatted down to pick it up.

Qiao Wei turned her head to look. “What’s wrong?”

Yan Lei calmly said, “Nothing, that person dropped their bun.”

It had nothing to do with them, so Qiao Wei turned back and added another piece of meat to Yan Xiang’s lunchbox.

Yan Lei glanced at the person.

He had seen it all just now. What was wrong with staring at someone else’s wife like that?

The person, feeling guilty, looked over, their gaze meeting Yan Lei’s, and they blushed and walked away, holding the bun.

Yan Lei hummed lightly in his heart.

But looking at his own wife, she did indeed look like an unmarried girl.

The families of company-level cadres were relatively young, and the most fashionable clothes for them were still blouses. And at this time, blouses, especially those made of floral fabrics, were very popular.

No, I misspoke. Almost all women’s clothing at this time was made of floral fabrics.

Among the sea of floral fabrics, the white shirt and green army pants indeed had a refreshing feeling like lotus emerging from clear water.

As they walked from the canteen to the courtyard gate after dinner, there were always men out for a stroll who deliberately or inadvertently looked at Qiao Wei more.

Qiao Wei from the future naturally didn’t think much of these looks.

In the future, people would come up and ask for contact information.

But she did feel that something was wrong with Yan Lei.

“What’s wrong with you today?” Qiao Wei even placed her hand on his forehead to check if he had a fever.

But he wasn’t running a temperature.

Yan Lei pulled her hand down, and since it was dark and there weren’t many people on the road, he didn’t let go of it, boldly holding her hand.

Qiao Wei held Yan Xiang’s hand again.

Yan Xiang said, “I’m holding Mom’s hand with Dad!”

Hearing this, Yan Lei felt even more proud. “Yes, we’re holding Mom’s hand.”

They walked home like this, unwilling to let go of each other’s hands.

Qiao Wei freed her hand from his grasp. “I’ve made soapberry water. Help me wash my hair.”

Yan Lei felt his palm empty and rubbed his fingers. “Coming.”

The soapberry water had been prepared before Yan Lei came home. It was just the right temperature now.

Yan Lei carefully poured the basin of water and Qiao Wei washed her hair, saying, “My arms are sore from today’s work. They’re starting to ache.”

Yan Lei said, “Let me massage them for you.”

His voice was low and deep, like an evening song in the dusk, exuding an atmosphere.

His gaze fell on Qiao Wei’s neck and shoulders, slowly scanning her slender neck, thin shoulders, and fair skin.

His gaze locked on, sticky.

But Qiao Wei didn’t notice at all.

The closer it got to bedtime, the more Yan Lei felt an inexplicable tension.

He couldn’t understand it himself.

Recently, their relationship has progressed by leaps and bounds, unlocking all one hundred and eight styles. How could he still feel his heart pounding when it was time to go to bed?

After Qiao Wei and Yan Xiang went into the house, he fetched a bucket of water and washed himself from head to toe before going inside.

His heart was racing.

But then…

“Dad, come quick!” Yan Xiang happily rolled on the bed in the western room.

Yan Lei: “…”

Yan Lei went over to massage him. “Why aren’t you asleep yet? Go back to your room.”

Yan Xiang, with a pair of innocent eyes, said, “I want to sleep with you and Mom today.”

Yan Lei immediately said, “But…”

“He’ll sleep with us tonight.” Qiao Wei, who was lighting mosquito coils, turned her head and told him, “His room has a strange smell. He’s been sleeping with us these past few days.”

Yan Lei fell silent for a moment, then made one last struggle. “It doesn’t smell…”

“Why not? There must be some.” Qiao Wei insisted, “Even if there is no smell that can be smelled by the nose, there must be some volatile substances. At least wait for it to disperse before letting the child sleep.”

Qiao Wei actually doesn’t know whether lime is harmful to the human body, let alone whether there are any other substances added to Dabai’s dry powder besides lime. Although talking about decoration pollution in this era is a bit too advanced, letting it sit for a few days always makes people feel at ease, right?

Yan Xiang hasn’t slept with his parents for a long time.

He had always slept with his mother, but when his mother came back from a long trip for a few days, he suddenly slept only with his father.

Although the little man is brave and strong enough to sleep alone, he really envies his father.

Who doesn’t want to sleep with mom?

Yan Xiang rolled around happily on the big bed.

Yan Lei no longer needed to be nervous, and his heart was pounding.

Qiao Wei coquettishly called him: “Come and rub my arm, otherwise I won’t be able to continue doing it tomorrow.”

Yan Lei resigned himself to the kang and let Qiao Wei relax his muscles.

Finally, the two of them slept with Yan Xiang in between.

You really can’t blame Qiao Wei.

Qiao Wei mentioned the old married couple model on the first day she wore it. She bathed naked, and Yan Lei didn’t even look at her.

Things developed well later on, and the two became physically intimate.

How could Qiao Wei imagine that people in this era live in an environment that suppresses emotions? Especially the less educated people are, the less they understand the love between men and women.

They fulfill the responsibilities of husbands or wives, and can live in harmony, live together, and reproduce together. They often think that this is love.

But love is actually hormones, dopamine, and a momentary blankness in my mind when I raise my eyes and see her.

In the darkness, Yan Lei turned around and saw that Yan Xiang had fallen asleep.

Qiao Wei was still gently patting him in a daze.

Yan Lei turned sideways, quietly reaching out and holding Qiao Wei’s hand.

Qiao Wei was already in a daze and stopped moving when Yan Lei held her hand.

Yan Lei held her hand for a long time before falling asleep.