As people often say, it’s either the east wind that overpowers the west wind, or the west wind that overpowers the east wind.

Originally, it had always been Chen Lina who asked Nie Bozhao to take her to get their marriage certificate.

But now, things had changed—Chen Lina wasn’t in a hurry, and Nie Bozhao was the one pushing to go get the certificate.

“It’s the weekend, what are we rushing to get a certificate for? Don’t the civil affairs bureau people need a rest too?”

Chen Lina thought it was strange.

After all, it was a rare weekend when Nie Bozhao was home.

He could help make milk powder for the kids and heat up the flatbreads for them.

She even hoped to sleep a little longer.

“Yesterday, Secretary A personally called the Urumqi Civil Affairs Bureau. They left Urumqi early in the morning, and they should be arriving at the base soon. Hurry up, and we can also ask them to take a family photo with the three kids.”

“What? We’re not going to the Civil Affairs Bureau? They’re coming all the way to the base?” Chen Lina had never heard of such a thing, where the officials came to you to issue the marriage certificate.

Today, Nie Bozhao was dressed very formally in a navy-blue shirt and black-framed glasses.

He had even worn an old-fashioned suit, which made him look tall, elegant, and handsome—completely different from his military uniform yesterday.

If it weren’t for him teasing her about the apricot tree yesterday, Chen Lina would have wanted to jump up and kiss him.

Of course, even if Secretary A was getting married, he would still have to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau, but Nie Bozhao didn’t need to.

After all, he was a key scientist at the oil base.

As long as he claimed that his research work kept him from going to Urumqi, his superiors would approve, and everything else would revolve around him.

However, Nie Bozhao would never say that out loud.

After feeding the kids milk and flatbread, the two hurried to the base building, and sure enough, the people from the Urumqi Civil Affairs Bureau had already arrived.

“Nie Gong, Comrade Chen, please look over here. One, two, three…”

With a flash of the camera, they took a family photo.

There was no photo on their marriage certificate; it was all handwritten.

That’s how they officially got their certificate, and only then could they be considered a true married couple.

From now on, Chen Lina could proudly say, “I’m Nie Bozhao’s family member” whenever she went out.

“Dad, when can we get the photos?” Nie Weimin thought the camera was so interesting.

It was small with a gourd-shaped lens, and when the photographer called him over to look through it, he saw the whole family in a tiny frame, just about the size of a thumb.

“Dad, do you think my hair looks cool? Do I look like Yang Zirong with this toy gun?” Er Dan had a wooden stick at his waist, pretending it was a box gun, and was giggling as he ran out.

“Looks cool, looks really cool. But Er Dan, I have one request: don’t use your spit to smooth your hair. Look at you, we just came out of the building, and your hair is already frozen with ice. You’ll catch a cold like that.”

The two older children, laughing and sliding, ran off joyfully in the snow.

Back at home, Chen Lina was cooking, while Nie Bozhao was cleaning out the ash from the fire wall.

In the winter, the most troublesome thing was coal—it was in high demand, and coal dust was everywhere.

He had to clean out all the ash from the fire wall.

Nie Weimin and Er Dan didn’t seem to want to go too far, so they ended up playing with Chen Tiantian and Qian Gou Dan, the son of Director Qian from the house next door.

But kids are always running around, and soon Chen Tiantian said, “Let’s go, Da Dan, let’s go to Uncle Wang’s house and find Wang Fan to play with. Shall we go?”

“No, let’s just play in front of my house. Why do you always want to go to Wang Fan’s place?” Nie Weimin was annoyed. “And don’t call me Dadan. I have a name, call me Nie Weimin.”

“Wang Fan always calls you a scaredy-cat, and I believe him now. Hmph, you’re really a scaredy-cat.” Saying this, Chen Tiantian grabbed Qian Goudan and pulled him away. “Let’s go, Gou Dan, we’ll find Wang Fan to play.”

“Take me with you! Take me too!” Er Dan said, running after them.

Nie Weimin was upset. “Er Dan, I order you not to go.”

“Wang Fan’s house has a TV. There should be a program on right now. I want to go too. Why can’t I go?” Er Dan said, trying to run.

Nie Weimin was so angry that his face turned red. “I said you can’t go, you’re not allowed to go.”

Nie Bozhao, who was cleaning out the ash, overheard the argument and said, “Nie Weimin, let go of Erdan, let him go.”

“No, I won’t let him go,” Nie Weimin replied firmly.

“You’re his brother, not his dad. Why are you controlling him? Let him go,” Nie Bozhao said.

Nie Weimin stood his ground, “I just won’t let Erdan go.”

Chen Lina was in the kitchen kneading dough for steamed buns.

When she heard a wail from the courtyard, she knew that Nie Weimin had started crying again.

But Nie Bozhao hadn’t hit him.

He was just the eldest—and a bit of a crybaby.

There he was, looking hurt, his eyes full of tears.

Seeing this, Nie Bozhao got angry: “You’re a boy! How can you cry so easily? Stand up and help your mom carry firewood.”

Nie Weimin insisted, “No! I won’t let Er Dan go.”

“Why won’t you let him go? Give me a reason.”

But Nie Weimin fell silent.

“Alright, no one is going. Tiantian, call Gou Dan in too. Auntie has ice pops for you. Come on in,” Chen Lina called out, bringing the two younger kids inside.

They say you shouldn’t eat ice in winter, but that’s not really true.

Northern winters are dry, and these ice pops were made from rice wine and milk, sweet and cooling.

They also helped soothe throats, were delicious, and even nourished the lungs.

To keep the kids entertained, Nie Bozhao even brought out his cherished collection of picture books he had saved for years.

Because Nie Bozhao often read them to his son, Nie Weimin could almost recognize all the characters.

With an ice pop in hand, he started telling stories to the younger children.

For now, the kids’ squabble was settled.

“I’m worried about Weimin’s personality. He could get into trouble when he grows up,” Nie Bozhao said, taking a moment to step into the kitchen.

“Have you ever thought about why your son’s such a crybaby? He won’t fight back, he won’t talk back, but he’s as stubborn as a mule.”

“What’s there to think about? He was raised by his grandmother, who spoiled his character.”

“He lacks a sense of security. Do you understand? With both parents working away, he grew up with his eccentric grandmother, who only made strange, hard-to-eat food. Your son is sensitive, so it’s no wonder his personality turned out strange. And don’t you think his temperament just makes other kids want to pick on him?”

“Are you saying my son deserves to be picked on?” Naturally, Nie Bozhao wasn’t happy to hear that.

For the first time, his new wife smiled.

Standing there in the kitchen with the light shining on her, his heart skipped a beat as he watched her roll up her sleeves.

He thought about how she even changed into pajamas to sleep at night and wondered if her skin was as fair as her arms looked.

“He’s smaller and thinner than other kids his age, which makes him an easy target. And he’s stubborn—he won’t plead or dodge when someone hits him. So kids who like to pick fights love to go after him.”

It made sense.

“So what should we do?”

“What do we do? Well, nothing special! Your son needs more nutrition. He doesn’t like milk, so you have to keep giving him cheese and yogurt in different forms to boost his calcium. And if he’s stubborn, that’s because he didn’t get enough affection when he was little. Don’t worry—if there’s always someone who loves him here at home, he’ll gain more confidence and won’t be so timid.”

Just then, as they were talking, Nie Bozhao turned and saw little Nie Weimin standing at the kitchen door.

“Why aren’t you playing with your friends?”

“I heard you two arguing,” Nie Weimin said.

The little guy was actually quite refined and gentle-looking, with fair skin and big, innocent eyes, though he was thin and had a neck as delicate as a rope.

“We weren’t arguing. We were just talking.”

“You two better not fight. Dad, I’m telling you now: if Comrade Chen leaves, I’m going with her.” He turned red after he spoke and quickly ran off.

“Why does he keep thinking you’ll leave?”

“You and his mother, Engineer Sun, probably argued about divorce all the time. Children carry these worries from a young age.”

Nie Bozhao thought about it and realized it was true. “Chen Lina, you’re really perceptive.”

In the family quarters at the base, there were usually two firewalls.

In winter, to save coal and stay warm, families would basically crowd onto one heated bed.

Most of the workers and officers were young here, so no one had elderly family members.

Everyone would gather around one big bed, cozy and warm.

But today, Nie Bozhao, surprisingly, went to the trouble of lighting the firewall in the smaller bedroom.

“Comrade Chen, do we have any extra cotton? We need something soft on this bed too,” he said.

“What, you want to sleep separately from us? Well, that’s fine. I have an extra mattress. I’ll give you the small quilt, you can just carry it over yourself,” Chen Lina said, looking very unhappy.

No, actually, she was very upset.

She had always wanted to get married to him, and now that the marriage was official, she should be happy, right?

But today, even though they had gotten their certificate, she didn’t seem as interested in him as usual.

Even at meal times, things felt a bit lackluster.

“Lunch should at least have two dishes. Why is it just noodles again, and even using the 85-flour?”

As soon as he entered the kitchen and smelled the earthy scent, Nie Bozhao couldn’t help but comment.

Little did he know, that one remark made Chen Lina immediately upset. “Do you know how much a tomato costs, just one is ten cents, an egg is two cents, and while the milk is free, the rice wine costs three yuan a can, that’s sky-high, and the high-quality flour costs ten yuan a bag! And this is only 85-flour, not the refined one.

Nie Bozhao, your monthly salary is only seventy yuan, and if I wanted to eat more, can we afford big fish and meat? How long can we survive on your salary?”

“Let me think. Seventy yuan might be enough for a good meal, but it won’t last the whole month. Can’t we at least get some refined flour?”

“No, we must stick to a monthly food budget of thirty yuan. The rest of the money has other uses.”

“I’ll handle saving money myself. comrade Chen, the seventy yuan I give you is for our food, and you can’t skimp on the kids’ meals.”

“Your kids, huh? Look at you, we just got married, and already I feel like an outsider in this family.”

“Comrade Chen, are you on something today?”

The stepmother, always smiling, was kinder to the three kids than even their biological mother.

But when she turned serious, it was enough to throw Nie Bozhao for a loop.

He felt like her words were laced with anger.

“Since the kids are under my care, the house is managed by me, and I control the finances, I’m setting this month’s food budget to thirty. If you’re not happy with that, then I’ll step aside and let you take over the household.”

The dough in the basin was rising.

This 85-flour was 85% refined, with 15% bran added.

The flour was coarser, and making noodles with it wasn’t great, but when steamed into flatbread, the rough texture was surprisingly good.

At least Er Dan liked it.

To make sure the kids didn’t just eat bland bran flatbread, Chen Lina went the extra mile—she added a big spoonful of oil, fried some green onions in it, and brushed the flatbreads with the mixture, turning them into flower rolls for the kids.

“Comrade Chen, you’re saving up to buy a sewing machine, right? Haven’t you asked your pen pal whether the smuggled sewing machines from the Soviet Union are cheaper?” After standing for a while, Nie Bozhao suddenly brought this up.

“What? Nie Bozhao, you’re spying on my personal letters?” Chen Lina picked up the rolling pin.

“Dad’s going to get hit again, Dad’s going to get hit again!” Erdan, who was passing by the kitchen door, yelled out.

That one line made Chen Lina realize that Er Dan probably wasn’t unfamiliar with these kinds of real-life confrontations.

But honestly, if they lived in a time of plenty, all the couple’s conflicts could be resolved with money.

For example, in her past life, whenever she got upset, the wealthy Nie Bozhao would immediately call up a store in Xidan or Wangfujing and have them deliver the latest luxury brands to her for her to choose from.

People can’t always resolve their anger with material things, but at least wealth can divide the issues.

But in these tough times, most conflicts came from lack of food and clothing.

Being hungry made tempers flare, so what was the solution when upset?

Use force, because nowadays, everyone idolized martial arts.

In her previous life, Chen Lina had fought more than once with Nie Guozhu using fists.

As soon as Nie Bozhao saw the rolling pin, he immediately raised his hands in surrender. “Comrade Chen, let’s have a civil discussion, not a physical fight. At least hear me out first, alright?”

…

“You want to send a letter from the base? It may look like it’s been put in the mailbox, but actually, all the letters have to go through Secretary A first.

He reads through everything before it’s sent. Your letter was going to Tacheng, which is right by the border.

The inspection there is stricter. Thankfully, not many people here speak Russian, so they mistook it for a letter I was sending to the border and gave it to me. Otherwise, if it had ended up with Secretary A, Chen Lina, I couldn’t have saved you.”

“Your three sons need clothes too. The house is practically empty. Do you think I can keep making them new clothes just by hand-stitching?

Of course I need a sewing machine, but the Kazakh traders sell one for 280 yuan. I figured if I could get a smuggled one from the Soviet Union, I could buy it for 80.

Nie Bozhao, my dowry is only 168 yuan, and it’s not even enough to buy the sewing machine.”

“So, you just went ahead and wrote to An Heshan? Trying to get him to find you a cheap smuggled sewing machine?” Nie Bozhao continued.

Chen Lina replied, “So what? You’re all secretive and won’t tell me about him. I wrote to ask about him and casually asked about a sewing machine. What’s wrong with that?”

“He passed away last year. Don’t write to Tacheng anymore,” Nie Bozhao said.

She had forgotten about her pen pal, An Heshan, until now, but he had been a humorous and kind teacher, someone who had been a great help to her.

Chen Lina thought for a moment and said, “You knew he was dead and didn’t tell me? You deserve it.”

She had started out cheerfully, especially on the day they got their marriage certificate.

Though she didn’t openly show it, her actions made it clear she was happy.

But when she heard the news about her pen pal’s death, it made her sad.

She immediately became downcast.

“Okay, it’s 280 yuan. If you really want it, I’ll find a way to buy you the sewing machine. But from now on, don’t send any more Russian letters.

As for your knowledge of Russian, try not to show it in front of the others. I trust you completely, but the others in the family… they’re always curious about everything,” he said. “Of course, I won’t let you get involved in any of my work’s confidential matters.”

“You said your salary is only 70 yuan a month, how long would it take to buy a sewing machine?” Chen Lina’s eyes lit up.

Nie Bozhao, with a fresh stack of bills, suddenly pulled it out.

“Recently, I’ve been working overtime, teaching a few students, writing a few articles for the newspaper. This month’s salary includes all those extra fees.”

Chen Lina took the money and counted it. “Wow, Nie Bozhao, you really tricked me. You said your salary was only 70 yuan, and here you have 300!”

She had been scrimping to save, but he had been quietly hiding his own stash.

This man’s actions completely deviated from what Chen Lina had expected.