Chapter 22: Decision

“Dad’s home!”

Lin Wei had just finished serving the stir-fried clams and yellow clams when Mingming ran in shouting. She nodded and said, “Go wash your hands and get ready for dinner.”

When not out at sea, Zong Shao’s schedule was relatively fixed. He would leave for the camp around 5:30 in the morning, have lunch at the base, and leave the camp around 6:00 in the evening. He walked fast, and it took him about ten minutes to get home.

After getting used to his schedule, Lin Wei became more efficient in preparing meals. Usually, by the time he got home, dinner was ready.

Since they bought a lot of seafood today, dinner looked quite lavish. Lin Wei used up all the dishes at home and filled most of the table.

However, though the dishes looked abundant, there were only a few types of seafood, and the quantities weren’t large.

They bought two crabs, which were quite large and heavy, but with the limited amount of seafood tickets, they couldn’t buy more. They got nearly a pound of shrimp, a mix of different types like prawns, small shrimp, and mantis shrimp, which didn’t look like much due to their small size.

Then, there were various shellfish, including clams, razor clams, and yellow clams, about a pound in total. They also bought four oysters. All the seafood together weighed about four pounds.

Though the variety was limited, Lin Wei prepared them in two different ways. She stir-fried some of the shellfish and shrimp with oil, serving them on two plates, and steamed one of the crabs. She also prepared garlic oysters, using another two plates.

The remaining crab was used for a raw marinated dish, combined with the shrimp and shellfish, and placed on another plate.

Since it was dinner time, Lin Wei also stir-fried some vegetables, using seaweed, which was inexpensive and flavorful. She mixed it into a dish, filling up half the table with all the dishes.

Once the family sat down, Lin Wei adjusted the placement of the plates, moving the raw marinated dish in front of her and Zong Shao, adding some wine to it.

Zong Shao glanced at the bowl of seafood she was adjusting. “What’s this?” he asked.

“Raw marinated seafood, it’s marinated with white wine, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and other seasonings,” Lin Wei briefly explained. “Have you tried it before?”

Zong Shao shook his head. “No.”

“Then try it. After I tasted it, I found the meat quite tender,” Lin Wei said, picking up a prawn and putting it in his bowl.

Mingming, who was watching, immediately said, “Mom, what about mine?”

“It has wine in it, so you kids can’t eat it,” Lin Wei replied, picking up two prawns and giving them to the brothers, but these had been stir-fried.

Mingming looked a bit disappointed but still started eating the prawns in his bowl.

While the mother and son were talking, Zong Shao had already finished the prawn Lin Wei gave him. He found the taste quite good. The meat was firmer than when it was stir-fried or steamed, with a slight sweetness, and the wine flavor wasn’t too strong.

Zong Shao picked up a crab leg, using scissors to cut it open as he asked, “How did you come up with this way of eating?”

“Well, I just came back from Shicheng, and I didn’t eat much seafood before. I learned how to steam fish and make garlic oysters from the people at the supply station. But I thought, although steamed seafood tastes good, I can’t always eat it like that. The staff at the supply station are busy, and it’s already good that they taught me one method. I can’t keep asking them, right? It would be wasting their time,” Lin Wei explained.

Zong Shao cracked open a crab leg, placing the meat in Lin Wei’s bowl. He casually asked, “And then?”

“Then…” Lin Wei glanced at the crab meat in her bowl, then looked at Zong Shao, who was picking up another crab leg with scissors. She absentmindedly said, “You eat your own, don’t worry about mine.”

Zong Shao nodded, then asked, “You haven’t told me who taught you to make raw marinated seafood.”

Lin Wei, enjoying the sweet crab meat, continued, “When I was coming back, I happened to see Sister Deng sitting in the yard. I remembered she had stir-fried clams yesterday, so I asked her a bit about it. Then we started talking about raw marinated seafood. Sister Deng’s hometown is by the sea, and that’s a local specialty dish there.”

Because it was so unique, people from other places might not like it, so Sister Deng only mentioned it casually and wasn’t planning on giving out the recipe.

But Lin Wei was enthusiastic about trying new dishes, so she immediately added the raw marinated seafood to the dinner menu, asking Sister Deng in detail how to make it and even invited her to guide her through the process.

It turned out that both she and Zong Shao liked the dish.

Mingming and Ruirui, the two brothers, were also quite tempted, but Lin Wei kept an eye on them. They could only gaze longingly at the raw marinated seafood before quietly eating other dishes.

“So that’s how it is,” Zong Shao said, realizing something. “By the way, Old Zhou told me something today.”

Lin Wei, while eating, asked, “What is it?”

“The work at the hospital. The military family placement office arranged for his wife to take it.”

Seeing Zong Shao’s serious expression, Lin Wei thought it was something important. But when she heard it, she relaxed and said, “I already knew about that.”

“How did you know?”

“I went to get my household registration this morning and overheard Sister Shen and Sister Liu talking about it.” Lin Wei glanced at the yard opposite and lowered her voice. “Not only did they tell me about it, but they also told me who complained.”

Zong Shao asked, “Was it Zhao’s wife?”

Lin Wei looked surprised. “How did you know?”

“You looked over there when you were talking,” Zong Shao said, then paused and asked, “Did she overhear your conversation with Liu?”

Lin Wei didn’t answer immediately. Zong Shao was quick to guess.

Just by looking at Lin Wei’s expression, Zong Shao knew he was right. His brows furrowed as he said, “I’ll talk to Zhao Feng about it.”

“How will you talk to him? Ask him why his wife complained about me behind my back? Or ask him to get me a job?” Lin Wei asked, then without waiting for Zong Shao to answer, she continued, “As for the first thing, what Xiulian did was wrong, but if you say she did something wrong, well, there’s no real fault. If it turns into a big argument, even if I’m right, I’ll still be in the wrong. As for the second thing, if Zhao’s wife could get me a job, why would Xiulian need to complain behind my back?”

Zong Shao understood the reasoning, but he still felt frustrated. He muttered, “I shouldn’t have just looked at the location when choosing a house.”

Now it seemed that neighbors’ character was far more important than the geographical location.

Lin Wei comforted him, “We didn’t really interact with them, who knew what kind of people our neighbors were? But I really like this house. Every morning, when I open the window and see the ocean, my mood brightens. As for difficult neighbors, we’ll just interact with them less.”

Zong Shao smiled. “You’re quite open-minded.”

“What’s there to be upset about? A good day is a good day, and a bad day is a bad day. Why ruin my mood over someone irrelevant?” Lin Wei said with a smile.

In the past, when she lived in the cotton mill’s dormitory, she often argued with people over trivial matters. She was young and thin-skinned, and when she argued, she always came out worse. Sometimes, she would be so angry that she wouldn’t even feel like eating.

If the old Lin Wei had been schemed against like this by Xiulian, she wouldn’t have been able to easily swallow her anger, and she might even have gone to argue.

But after confirming the truth, Lin Wei had let go of many things and learned to see things from a different perspective.

She said, “The only reasons she would go behind my back are either to take my job, but as you can see, I lost my job, and it didn’t go to her, or it’s for revenge. If she really has such a small heart, then she must not like seeing me doing well. If I were stressed out about this, it would be exactly what she wanted, right? But I’m happy, and who’s really the one suffering?”

For Lin Wei, as long as it wasn’t life or death, there was nothing that couldn’t be handled.

Instead of wasting time arguing with Xiulian, she’d rather spend that time with her family.

Zong Shao remained silent for a moment before suddenly saying, “You’ve changed a lot since we last met.”

Lin Wei’s heart skipped a beat, almost thinking that he had seen through her.

After confirming the reality of her dream, she had been conflicted about whether to tell Zong Shao about it. People often say that three heads are better than one, and maybe he could come up with a better solution.

But she was also worried. This matter was so bizarre.

If Zong Shao suddenly told her that the world was a book, she would probably ask, “Are you okay?” and think he had lost his mind.

Even if Zong Shao believed her, what good would it do to tell him now?

She hadn’t gotten sick; she had died in an accident, and her time of death was still more than a year away. Telling him now would only add panic to their family, and no one would be able to live peacefully in the coming year.

Thinking of this, Lin Wei smiled and said, “People always change, just like Mingming. He used to cry all the time, but now he hardly cries anymore. And Ruirui, who was lazy and quiet before, now enjoys playing with the other kids.”

Upon hearing his mom’s words, Mingming puffed out his chest and proudly said, “I’ve grown up and become a man. I bleed but I don’t cry.”

Ruirui followed suit and said, “I’ve also become a man, but I still cry when I bleed.” Then he looked at Zong Shao and said with a meaningful tone, “Dad, I also want to eat big crabs.”

Zong Shao paused his action of peeling the crab leg and reached out to take one from the steamed crab, handing it to him.

However, Ruirui didn’t take the crab leg. He extended both his hands, shiny with the oil from the shrimp he’d just eaten, and confidently said, “I can’t peel it.”

Lin Wei, accustomed to taking care of the children, reached out to take the crab leg from Zong Shao, intending to peel it, but before she could touch it, Zong Shao gently stopped her hand and said, “I’ll do it.”

Mingming, who was struggling to bite through the crab leg shell, turned his eyes in a dramatic way and covered his mouth, saying, “The shell is so hard.”

Zong Shao had already quickly peeled the crab leg meat for Ruirui, then took the half-eaten crab leg from Mingming’s hand and began peeling it, saying, “I’ll peel for them; you eat your own.”

After handing the peeled crab leg to Ruirui, Mingming immediately protested, “Dad, I want more crab!”

So, Zong Shao continued peeling.

Lin Wei saw this and said, “Don’t spoil them. Eat enough first.”

“One last piece for each. The rest I’ll finish after I eat,” Zong Shao said, then turned to look at Lin Wei. “By the way, Old Zhou told me something today.”

Lin Wei chewed the flower clams and asked, “What is it?”

“He said his wife has to work but there’s no one to take care of their child. He wants to know if you’re willing to help. She’ll handle the meals, just need you to keep an eye on the kid in the morning and afternoon, for five bucks a month.”

“Did you agree?”

“No, you told me yesterday that the job fell through, but today he came to me saying his wife has already secured a job at the hospital. I had a feeling something was off, so I brought up the matter.”

Although he didn’t think the person who complained was Deng Xiangyun, things had gotten complicated. Since he didn’t know Lin Wei’s thoughts, he hadn’t agreed immediately. He planned to discuss it with Lin Wei first to see what she thought.

Zong Shao said, “If you think it’s too troublesome and don’t want to help, I’ll tell him tomorrow and turn it down.”

Lin Wei shook her head. “I can help. Xiao Shitou is quite sensible, and he gets along well with Mingming and Ruirui. But as for the money, I’ll pass. I don’t need to worry about Shitou’s meals. It’s just that Mingming and Ruirui will have two more playmates.”

She had checked, and in the family housing area, military wives who worked hired people to look after their children for five or six bucks a month, and the parents usually covered the cost of lunch. Though tickets were provided by the parents, the money for food was on them, so it was really just earning the middleman’s margin.

The military wives who helped take care of children also didn’t have to worry much. The biggest concern was cooking, but aside from that, they didn’t have to put in much effort.

Children around three or four years old were already running and jumping, and nowadays, even mothers didn’t keep such a tight hold on their kids. When there was nothing to do, they let them run wild, and when it was time to eat, they’d find someone to look after them.

The military wives who helped with the kids only had to be mindful of whether the kids were playing dangerous games, whether they went near the water, or helped them with going to the toilet. They didn’t need to watch them constantly. So the military wives in the family housing area who wanted to earn extra money often looked after seven or eight children at once.

Lin Wei had taken care of her kids the same way. The only difference was that, since she had just arrived on the island and lived by the sea, she kept a closer eye on them, barely letting them out of her sight.

But while watching the kids, she could still do her own things, like sewing curtains or farming, without any delays.

Because it didn’t take much effort, Lin Wei didn’t want to take Deng Xiangyun’s money.

Not taking money meant helping out for free. When watching the children, she could do her own thing. But if she took the money, it would become a job.

People always have two standards: one for people helping them and another for those working for them. If someone helps and does a good job, they are thanked, but if someone is working for them, doing the same job, they expect even more.

Otherwise, how could “work drones” exist decades later?

If it became work, she’d inevitably feel restrained when dealing with Shitou later. It would be better not to take the money. That way, if the kids got along, she could help, and if they didn’t, they could part ways without any issues.

“But with three kids, won’t you be too busy?”

“If I can’t handle it, I’ll just tell them,” Lin Wei said. “If it really becomes too much, I’ll prioritize my own kids.”

Zong Shao pondered for a moment and said, “Alright, then I’ll talk to him again tomorrow.”

…

Zong Shao planned to talk to Zhou Jianhai again tomorrow, but just after dinner, Zhou Jianhai came over with Xiao Shitou, saying his son wanted to play with Mingming and Ruirui, so his wife had sent him over.

When the three kids started playing together, Lin Wei made an excuse to follow them, and that’s when Zhou Jianhai told Zong Shao his main purpose for coming: “I talked to my wife about Lin Wei’s situation at dinner.”

Before he even started, Zong Shao knew what he was about to say and directly replied, “I already talked to Wei Wei about it. She understands what’s going on.” He briefly explained the situation.

Zhou Jianhai and Zong Shao were from the same unit. He was the battalion instructor, and Zong Shao was the deputy battalion commander. Their relationship was closer than most comrades.

He didn’t want this misunderstanding to cause any problems and affect their years of friendship, so after returning home, he had asked his wife for the full story. Once he confirmed she really didn’t know the details, he came over to explain it to Zong Shao.

Now that the matter was resolved, Zhou Jianhai felt relieved, but he was still confused. He lowered his voice and asked, “Why did Gao Xiulian suddenly report behind our backs?”

“I don’t know,” Zong Shao shook his head.

Zhou Jianhai asked again, “Does Zhao Feng know about this?”

“I’m not sure. I only found out tonight, and I haven’t run into him today.”

Zong Shao shook his head and glanced at Lin Wei, who was with the kids, stacking sand. He said in a low voice, “I’ll bring it up with Zhao Feng in the next couple of days to see how he reacts.”

If Zhao Feng didn’t know, they could still preserve some dignity. If he knew, then they wouldn’t hold back in the future.

Zhou Jianhai nodded in agreement. “We’ll ask first. By the way, did you talk to your sister-in-law about helping with Xiao Shitou?”

“I did. She agreed to look after him.”

Zhou Jianhai asked, surprised, “Really? I knew she’d be generous. Before I came, your wife was especially worried and told me not to mention it, but I was smart…”

Even someone as calm as Zong Shao couldn’t help but feel speechless at Zhou Jianhai’s self-praise. He interrupted him and said, “Weiwei said, since the meals are handled by you, just consider it that Mingming and Ruirui have another playmate. No need for payment. However, I need to make one thing clear in advance—there will be no special treatment for Xiao Shitou in our house. If the children fight, Weiwei won’t be biased towards him.”

“I understand.” Zhou Jianhai didn’t expect any special treatment, but he hesitated, “But, asking Sister-in-law to help take care of the kids without paying, isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”

“If we accept money, Weiwei will actually feel burdened, and she won’t necessarily be able to help with the kids for long. If a position opens up and it’s suitable for her, she’ll definitely go back to work.” Zong Shao thought it was better to be clear about everything.

Zhou Jianhai and Deng Xiangyun hadn’t really considered how long Lin Wei would be able to help, but they were just looking for someone trustworthy in the short term. Hearing this, Zhou Jianhai smiled and said, “I understand. Xiangyun and I were thinking the same thing. We’ll take this time to ask around and see who in the family area is reliable for taking care of kids. Once Sister-in-law starts working, we can send the kids somewhere else.”

Zhou Jianhai chuckled again: “I have to say, calling Weiwei so affectionately, huh?”

Zong Shao casually replied, “We have a great relationship.”

Zhou Jianhai: ?