Evening.

As the sun set, many people in the factory gathered in the big square, preparing to watch a movie.

Wen Jiajia stopped briefly to look at the crowd but quickly moved on. There were so many people, it was like sardines in a can, and the streets were deserted.

No wonder Sha Yue preferred to stay at her mother’s house rather than watch a movie at the factory.

Passing by a state-owned restaurant, Wen Jiajia picked up a portion of braised beef in soy sauce to take home.

Having gotten to know the chefs and waiters at the state-owned restaurants, she often managed to get items that were otherwise sold out.

When she got home, Wen Chun and Wen Xuan were already back.

Wei Dai was also there. Wen Chun and Wen Xuan’s hair were still damp, indicating that Wei Dai had washed it.

Wen Jiajia leaned in to smell their hair, and indeed, it had a hint of soap.

“You came back early today,” Wen Jiajia said, putting down her backpack and lunchbox. “When did you wash their hair?”

Wei Dai replied, “I just got back a short while ago. I washed their hair while the sun was still up.”

Wen Jiajia instructed the two children to stay outside. “Don’t come in. It’s windy out here, and the wind will help dry your hair faster.”

Then she turned to Wei Dai. “You must be exhausted after coming back.”

Wei Dai laughed and said, “I’m completely drained. I almost fell asleep on the sofa.”

Wen Jiajia asked, “Are you hurt?”

“No, just a few mosquito bites. Chun’er has some bumps on her neck.”

Wen Jiajia felt a pang of concern. “Then let’s give the two girls a bath with mugwort water later.”

For dinner, they had braised beef in soy sauce.

A plate of green vegetables, over a pound of braised beef, and a bowl of tofu soup. The two children seemed to enjoy the meal even more than when they had hosted a dinner party for their move.

It was as if they hadn’t eaten for days.

“How can you be so hungry?” Wen Jiajia asked, tying up Wen Chun’s hair, which was a bit long and allowed her to eat more efficiently.

Wen Chun nodded vigorously while still chewing. When she finished, she patted her stomach and said, “I’m so hungry my stomach is growling louder than a frog.”

Wen Jiajia smiled. “That’s good. When you’re this hungry, you aren’t picky about food. I guess I’ll have to work harder in the future.”

Recently, the two children had been reluctant to eat green leafy vegetables, only eating them if they were put in their bowls and then eaten “reluctantly.”

Now, they ate vegetables eagerly, even drinking the soup.

After dinner, Wen Jiajia went to the utility room to get some mugwort leaves.

Back then, the home only had a few types of medicinal herbs, but now most of the herbs in the utility room were collected by Wen Jiajia during her weekend mountain hikes.

At this time of year, herbs were abundant, and villagers were generally willing to pick some for their families.

Wen Jiajia had gathered many common medicinal herbs and even had Wei Dai build a small medicine cabinet for her.

The cabinet had 36 compartments, and 12 were now in use.

Wen Jiajia opened the second compartment in the third row and took out the dried mugwort leaves.

She put a handful in a pot to cook. After the water changed color from boiling, she poured it into a wooden barrel, added cold water, and waited for the right temperature before putting the children in.

“The water smells funny,” Wen Xuan said, patting the water’s surface.

Wen Chun commented, “It actually smells really good.”

Wen Jiajia agreed; she liked the smell of mugwort.

The two children were quite dirty. Wen Jiajia rubbed them thoroughly, and a black stain came off, resembling a black nematode.

“Look how dirty you are,” she said, deliberately showing them the mud.

Wen Chun laughed and said, “The teacher praises us every day, saying we smell good and are clean.”

Wen Xuan added, “The teacher likes to hug me and says I smell good.”

Wen Jiajia pinched their cheeks and said, “Whose credit is that? It’s your aunt and me. I told you to bathe every day, but you didn’t listen. The teacher will only hug you if you’re clean. Who would want to hug you if you were smelly?”

In reality, there are very few dirty children in the army because a bathhouse is available in the family area.

The bathhouse is next to the family building, covering an area of over 200 square meters and divided into men’s and women’s rooms. Inside, there’s a cement floor and walls lined with showerheads. Water sprays out when the switch is turned on. Although the water temperature is fixed, it’s otherwise quite convenient.

Parents usually undress their children and let them play in the water. Although the clothes may not be perfectly clean, the children themselves are not dirty after being rinsed.

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan hadn’t been there since it was too far, so Wen Jiajia had to wash them carefully with soap almost every day. If she wasn’t worried about skin problems from too frequent washing, she would even bathe them in winter.

“Alright, time to get out!”

Wen Jiajia checked their arms, noting the tan lines from the summer sun.

After drying them, she dressed them and sent them to their rooms. They could dress themselves.

Wen Jiajia also took a bath with mugwort water. As she finished and came out with the bucket, there was a knock at the door.

“Is Jiajia home?” a voice called.

Wen Jiajia couldn’t tell whose voice it was, so she quickly called out, “I’m here, I’m here.”

She put down the barrel in her hand and ran to open the door. To her surprise, it was Jiang Baiying, one of the managers of the family members’ area, who lived on the far left of Beishan, quite close to her home.

“Sister Bai Ying,” Wen Jiajia said, surprised. “Come in and have a seat. What can I do for you?”

Jiang Baiying held a notebook in her left hand and a pen in her right. “No need to sit down. I heard from Sister Bao that you want to order milk?”

Wen Jiajia’s face lit up. “Yes, I do. Has the farm been built? Have the cows arrived?”

Jiang Baiying smiled. “They arrived early this morning—eight in total. This is just the first batch; there will be more later. How many would you like to order?”

Wen Jiajia said, “Order three.”

Jiang Baiying paused and said, “Three servings. One serving is half a liter.”

Wen Jiajia was surprised at how much one serving was, so she revised her request. “Let’s make it two servings.”

Jiang Baiying remarked, “You only have two girls in your family, so you want two? Actually, one is usually sufficient. Many families only order one, even those with five or six children.”

Wen Jiajia smiled and said, “That’s okay. The two girls love milk.”

“Alright, I’ll reserve two servings for your family,” Jiang Baiying agreed, no longer trying to persuade her. After all, it wasn’t her money being spent.

Wen Jiajia sent Jiang Baiying off, closed the door, and went back inside.

Wei Dai was cleaning the kitchen and overheard their conversation. He asked Wen Jiajia, “Why don’t you order one serving of milk and one of goat milk?”

Wen Jiajia replied, “No, I don’t like the taste of goat’s milk.”

She added, “I didn’t expect one serving to be so large. We’ll each have half a serving, and you’re not allowed to push it.”

Wei Dai felt awkward, as he was the type of person who wouldn’t even eat candy.

Wen Jiajia rolled her eyes at him and said, “I’m doing this for your own good. You train so hard every day; you still need to make up for it.”

She didn’t want him to end up old and looking like his father.

Wei Dai replied, “Alright, I’ll drink it. I’ll definitely drink it.”

He conceded, knowing that if he didn’t, his wife would nag him until bedtime.

Night

The evening breeze felt cool. Wen Jiajia sat under the eaves, making her osmanthus jam.

“There are too many osmanthus flowers, and we don’t have enough white sugar,” Wen Jiajia said with a frown.

In front of her was a small stove with a stone pot on it, where sugar water was boiling.

Wei Dai brought out a can of rock sugar. “How about trying some rock sugar?”

Wen Jiajia blinked. “Is that okay?”

Wei Dai opened the wooden lid of the rock sugar jar. “It’s all sugar, so I think it should be fine.”

Wen Jiajia quickly stopped him. “If you think it’s okay, then it’s definitely not.”

Although she did think it might be alright, Wei Dai’s hands had a particular smell when he did these things.

Some time ago, Wei Dai had picked cowpeas and pickled them, but they turned out salty, sour, and bitter—almost like poison.

The dried plums he made also had the same bitterness. Despite using the same method as Wen Jiajia, he could make things taste bitter.

Wei Dai, feeling unsure, retracted his hand. “Then let’s boil some first and save the rest for tomorrow when we buy sugar.”

Wen Jiajia nodded in agreement.

The sugar water in the stone pot was bubbling, but it wasn’t ready yet. The large bubbles needed to turn into small bubbles.

As soon as the dense, small bubbles appeared, Wen Jiajia added the osmanthus flowers.

The golden flowers made the syrup particularly enticing. When the aroma became strong enough to fill the house, she moved the pot aside and set it to cool.

Wen Jiajia sighed, wishing she had honey and lemon to make it taste even better.

“Would you like to try it?” Wen Jiajia asked Wei Dai.

Wei Dai shook his head. “I’ve already brushed my teeth. I’ll wait until tomorrow.”

Wen Jiajia put the stone pot in the kitchen cupboard and washed her hands. “Then let’s go to bed.”

Not long after they returned to their room, it began to drizzle outside.

The window was open, and Wen Jiajia worried that rain might get in and wet the desk. She got up and put the items on the desk into the drawer.

“Are you not going to close the window?” Wei Dai asked.

Wen Jiajia climbed into bed. “It’s hot. Why close the window?”

Wei Dai touched her neck, where a light sweat had formed, and wiped it with a handkerchief. “It’s okay. The temperature will be more comfortable tomorrow after the rain.”

Wen Jiajia suddenly said, “The rain comes at an inconvenient time. We have an event at the factory tonight. They’re probably still watching the movie. We watched until ten o’clock last night.”

Wei Dai commented, “Your studio is quite generous. They show movies for two consecutive days?”

“That’s nothing,” Wen Jiajia replied. “I heard some studios even have a special projection team that shows movies every few days.”

She said this with a hint of nostalgia for her past life.

Wei Dai turned over. “I heard that TVs are becoming more common…”

Wen Jiajia covered his mouth. “Don’t listen to me. We don’t buy things like that.”

Just as he had always dreamed of living in an apartment, Wen Jiajia had also been thinking about having a TV ever since she knew department stores sold them.