Chapter 110

The previous year was just a prelude. In this year when the Spring Festival was canceled, Qiao Wei truly began to feel that sense of “Ah, it’s starting…”

Qiao Wei read the newspaper every day, not daring to miss a single piece of news.

Because her pitiful and limited understanding of this period largely came from period novels, period dramas, and Weibo. Not only was it very limited and vague, but much of it might even be wrong.

There were several days when her sleep was particularly bad. Yan Lei held her gently and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Qiao Wei sighed and said, “I’m scared.”

Yan Lei said, “You don’t need to be afraid. You’re a military spouse.”

Qiao Wei was really grateful for this military spouse status at this moment.

She finally relaxed.

And besides being a military spouse, she remembered that she had another identity— the wife of the male lead.

She rubbed Yan Lei’s arm, feeling its firmness and elasticity.

It was very reassuring.

Ah, after more than a year, living every day in a calm and happy manner, working steadily and rhythmically, probably because everything felt so real, she had actually forgotten that she had transmigrated.

Never forget the power of the male lead’s halo.

Qiao Wei hugged Yan Lei and fell asleep solidly.

But what had to happen would always happen— Secretary Meng lost control.

Huang Zengyue betrayed him.

…

…

The conference ended.

Suddenly, the hall that had just been bustling and noisy quieted down, and everyone who should have left had left.

Qiao Wei stretched out her legs and looked at her round-toed Liberation shoes.

Another pair of Liberation shoes appeared in her line of sight, standing next to her feet.

Qiao Wei raised her eyes.

Huang Zengyue was looking down at her.

After a long time, he sighed, “Indeed, it’s you.”

The hall was empty, and his sigh seemed to echo.

[Extra]: Yan Xiang’s Daily Routine at the Broadcasting Station

Yan Xiang woke up early in the morning.

He sat up in one go and put on his clothes.

His clothes were always very clean. His mother said that a piece of clothing shouldn’t be worn for more than two days at most. But he knew that many people could wear a piece of clothing for three or four days.

His mother was particularly clean.

But Yan Xiang also liked cleanliness because clothes would smell really bad if worn for too long. Yan Xiang couldn’t stand that smell.

Yan Xiang slipped off the kang and firmly stepped onto the small stool with his small feet before slipping them into his shoes.

He could do all of these things by himself. He was already a very big boy!

Very capable!

Stepping out of the door, it was another sunny day, with the sunlight shining in the courtyard, making the cobblestones on the path gleam.

Mom said that some special places would have special cobblestones, transparent and shiny like gemstones, called “rain flower stones”.

Mom said that if there was a chance in the future, she wanted to take him to that place to pick rain flower stones. But they had to wait until he grew up.

But Yan Xiang was very worried that by the time he grew up, all the beautiful rain flower stones would have been picked clean by others.

He had read in a geography book in the library that the formation of many rocks required tens of thousands or even millions of years. Yan Xiang was only four years old, so millions of years were too long for him to wait.

If they were all picked clean, there wouldn’t be any new stones generated for the next time.

He was anxious!

“Xiang Xiang, go wash your face and have breakfast!”

Mom was wearing a clean white shirt today, smiling.

Yan Xiang’s mom always talked to him with a smile, never slapped him on the back of his head, kicked him, or pinched his arms or thighs.

Yan Xiang didn’t quite understand other children’s parents. But he would compare, and after comparing, he felt that his parents were better.

In the summer, the basin rack was placed next to the hand-operated well, and Mom scooped a ladle of water from the bucket into the basin.

The water from the hand-operated well was groundwater. According to Yan Xiang’s understanding from the geography book, groundwater was filtered through layers of rocks and soil, cleaner than ponds or river water, because nobody bathed or washed their feet in it, nobody washed clothes or vegetables in it, and nobody dumped their chamber pots in it.

After reading the relevant content, Yan Xiang was worried about the town residents’ water usage problem for several days.

He couldn’t even eat.

Later, when Mom asked why he always frowned, he told her about his worries.

Mom touched his head and said, “That’s just how it is.”

“But we Chinese people are also very clever. Since ancient times, we have advocated drinking boiled water, because boiling water at high temperatures is the process of disinfecting water, purifying dirty water.”

“Also, look, although people in the town wash clothes and dump chamber pots, if you observe carefully, you’ll see that everyone fetches water from the upper reaches of the river, washes clothes and vegetables in the middle reaches, and dumps dirty things in the lower reaches. And if anyone dares to swim in the upper reaches, their parents will chase and beat them.”

“See, this is the wisdom of human beings under limited conditions.”

So that’s how it is.

Yan Xiang understood. It wasn’t that everyone couldn’t think of it, it was just that the objective conditions were limited. Smart people have existed since ancient times.

And Mom told him the real solution: “Tap water.”

“It’s clean water that meets standards, filtered and disinfected by water plants, delivered from the clean water tanks of water plants to every household through pipelines.”

“Um… we can’t have it delivered to every household yet. Look, there are public tap water tanks in the compound, but it’s not available in every person’s home yet.”

“But it will definitely happen in the future. In the future, every household will have their own tap, and when you turn it on, clean water will flow out.”

“Even when washing your face, you won’t need a basin, you can use running water, which will be even cleaner.”

“In the future, every household will be able to take a bath at home, without needing to go to public baths.”

Whenever Yan Xiang had questions about life, Mom always knew how to tell him the solution. Although the ways she mentioned might not be available now, she firmly believed that they would be in the future.

Mom’s attitude also infected Yan Xiang.

Yan Xiang believed in that “future” that Mom talked about.

Breakfast was refreshing Yangchun noodles, with pickles and a boiled egg.

After breakfast, Yan Xiang brushed his teeth again.

This is different from the habit of many people who brush their teeth before eating.

But Mom said, “You brushed your teeth before bedtime, and you didn’t eat anything at night, so your mouth wasn’t contaminated. So when you wake up in the morning, your mouth is actually clean.”

“Eating is what contaminates the mouth.”

“If you brush your teeth before breakfast, it means your mouth is only clean for a few minutes before it’s contaminated by food. You carry food residue in your teeth, fermenting for the whole morning.”

“But if you eat breakfast before brushing your teeth, at least until lunchtime, your mouth and teeth are in a clean state, reducing bacterial growth and maintaining fresh breath.”

Dad said Mom’s words were all nonsense; he had never heard of brushing teeth after breakfast.

But Dad still obediently followed suit. He finished breakfast every day, then brushed his teeth, and then went to work.

Yan Xiang specifically asked Jun Jun how he brushed his teeth.

Jun Jun was very surprised: “You still brush your teeth?”

Yan Xiang: “…”

Poor him.

Yan Xiang felt really helpless.

It’s not that he didn’t want to play with the kids from his dad’s comrades’ families. But first of all, the older brothers and sisters wouldn’t play with him, they were much faster than him, and if he wanted to keep up, he had to run to catch up.

But with kids around his age, Yan Xiang sometimes felt like their heads were empty.

Sometimes it was really hard to communicate.

Especially the kids who could come out to play hadn’t entered kindergarten. These kids had no idea how to follow instructions or commands, which was really difficult.

Plus, the various screams and noises the kids made, so Yan Xiang always preferred playing alone at home.

He had read the limited picture books countless times, and he already knew the words from his mom’s repeated explanations.

The sandbox was also very interesting, with endless possibilities for molding.

The real happiness for Yan Xiang actually came after his mom discovered that he knew how to read.

Yan Xiang couldn’t exactly remember which day it was later, but that year, his mom seemed to care more about him, and she became more interesting.

She would tell him many stories he had never heard before, seemingly endless stories.

Later, he went to the county to tell those stories to the kindergarten kids, and not only the kids loved it, even the teachers did.

They exclaimed, “Xiang Xiang, how do you know so many stories?”

Yan Xiang said, “My mom told me.”

The teachers seemed to think it was very reasonable: “Xiang Xiang’s mom is knowledgeable. She must have read a lot of books, right?”

“Who has a better knowledge, Xiang Xiang’s mom or Secretary Huang?”

“That’s hard to say.”

“They are both very knowledgeable.”

Yan Xiang vaguely remembered that year, suddenly, his mom seemed to completely understand him.

Before, his mom would say he was inexplicable, why he was different from other kids. Starting from that year, his mom never said that again.

She tried her best to find more books for him to read, whether they had words, pictures, or symbols.

It didn’t matter if he didn’t understand, or if there were many nouns he didn’t know the meaning of; she said, “Just read.”

From that year on, they had their own little secrets.

He was different from other kids – the more Yan Xiang read, the more he understood this about himself. He knew why his mom didn’t want him to talk too much outside.

Even Dad didn’t know their secret.

Mom said, “This way everyone will be a little happier.”

Yan Xiang fully understood this only after growing up.

Mom not only found books for him to read and told him various stories, but she also liked to take him outdoors.

The riverside in the small town left Yan Xiang with many memories.

The stones in the shallows sparkled in the water.

Their smooth shapes were the result of the relentless erosion of the river, smoothing out their edges.

Mom always told him many things in life, bit by bit.

Those things were called common sense for her and him.

But after Yan Xiang grew up and interacted with many people, he realized that not everyone understood common sense.

In that era when transportation and communication were not well developed, people not only lacked knowledge but also common sense.

And why did his mom know so much?

It wasn’t until a long time later that Yan Xiang realized how strange this was.

But when he was little, he thought it was natural.

The small river shimmered.

The little fish swam shallowly.

Mom told him he could swim, but only with Dad. All activities for kids had to be under safe conditions.

Yan Xiang also told other kids this, but they didn’t listen and even mocked him.

It was really frustrating.

Mom’s restrictions didn’t affect his happiness.

Because Dad often took him swimming. A well-behaved kid didn’t need to go down to the river alone without adults watching over.

Why didn’t the parents of other kids do the same?

A mystery.

Childhood passed very quickly.

Yan Xiang later recalled with surprise that his happiest childhood coincided with an important period in history.

He also read many literary works and was surprised to find that they were very different from what he remembered.

With his parents’ company, he seemed to have lived in a paradise of happiness all along.

The sunlight in the yard, the time for nap, the cool underground water from the hand-operated well after waking up, washing his feet.

The dewy little vegetables in the backyard.

The swift wind on the backseat of the bicycle.

The straight poplar trees on the sides of the road, the dappled effect of sunlight shining through.

Yan Xiang later wrote in his memoir:

[Every child should have such a childhood, no matter if they are different from others. At that age, they are just children.]