Chapter 137 1/2

The birth of Yan Fu brought some changes to Qiao Wei’s family.

After Yan Lei was promoted, he had a liaison officer by his side. The liaison officer took care of the household affairs for the leaders. Now there was someone to cook and clean at home.

But Yan Fu was still so young, and Qiao Wei needed to return to work after her maternity leave. She certainly didn’t intend to send Yan Fu to a nursery. Even if the nursery would take extra care of a leader’s child, they would still be quite rough in their care.

So it was only natural for the family to hire a nanny specifically to take care of the child.

With the addition of a new family member, Yan Lei naturally wrote to his hometown, mentioning the need to find a nanny.

People from Yan Zhuang naturally had ideas. The eldest sister-in-law and younger sisters all wanted to send their sister or niece over. Just like Lin Xixi working for the Zhao family, when it came to hiring a nanny, the first choice was usually a relative from the rural hometown, which was considered reliable.

Yan Lei mentioned it to Qiao Wei, who directly refused.

“Near the water, you’ll find fish; near the fields, you’ll find birds,” she said. “If relatives are in need, you can extend a helping hand, but don’t bring them into our home. It’s not just a saying.”

“That makes sense,” Yan Lei agreed.

When he returned to his hometown, he sometimes felt like he couldn’t communicate with the people there.

And Qiao Wei had high standards for hygiene and other aspects of life. If people from her hometown were to meet her demands, they might think she was being too harsh.

Originally, they wanted to help their relatives, but instead, they ended up ruining their reputation. It wasn’t necessary at all.

Yan Lei wrote back to reject the proposal from his hometown.

At this time, there was a department specifically responsible for managing the life of cadres. Yan Lei asked them to recommend a few people, and after Qiao Wei’s interview, they selected a nanny in her forties.

Qiao Wei took a 56-day maternity leave and then returned to work.

Even in this era, the infant mortality rate was still quite high.

Since his sister was born, Yan Xiang has started studying medical books. After finishing all the books available in the library, he started gathering information from the health bureau.

With his father as a cadre and his mother as a deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee, he had smooth access wherever he went.

Studying medical information didn’t affect his work in the library’s office.

Qiao Wei once asked what he was doing, and Yan Xiang said, “It’s an algorithm.”

Once he mentioned algorithms, it was the upper limit of what Qiao Wei could understand. Anything more, and even this transmigrator wouldn’t understand.

With good nutrition, little Yan Fu grew up healthy and soon turned one year old.

She was as cute as a snowball. Yan Xiang often showed her off to Junjun.

Sometimes, he would also take her to play with the children of the Lu family. Lu Dada’s second child was born around the same time as Yan Fu, just half a month apart.

Lu Tianze joked, “Let Xiao Fu marry into our family in the future.”

Yan Xiang said, “That’s not possible.”

He ran away while holding Yan Fu.

He whispered to Yan Fu, “We won’t go to their house to play in the future.”

When mom was pregnant and couldn’t do anything at home, dad would help her put on shoes and wash her feet while squatting down.

But Sister Lin, while pregnant, still had to do a lot of work at the Lu family’s house.

Although she always smiled as if she were relaxed, Yan Xiang could compare and had his own judgment.

He couldn’t let Yan Fu marry into the Lu family to work.

He solemnly warned his parents, “When Fu Fu grows up, she can’t marry into the Lu family. I disagree.”

Yan Lei felt that his son was sharp-minded. “Right! I also disagree.”

He could be blood brothers with Lu Tianze, but he absolutely couldn’t be in-laws with him.

This matter was not up for discussion; all the men in the Yan family disagreed.

Qiao Wei: “…”

She’s only one year old, aren’t you all too eager to think about the future?

After spending four years taking refuge in Xiahekou, Lu Tianze was finally rehabilitated in the year Yan Fu turned one, and he could return to Beijing.

He had a big meal with Captain Pan, Yan Lei, Captain Zhao, and Captain Ma, and everyone shed tears.

He took Lin Xixi and the two children back to Beijing, and everyone went to the train station to see them off.

The men stood together talking, and the women stood together talking.

Lin Xixi finally waited for this day.

Sister Yang cried, “You must take care of yourself.”

She wanted to remind her not to be bullied. Lin Xixi’s marriage during this special period was considered a high-status match. Sister Yang, being a rural woman herself, had a fear of the “big family” in Beijing. She was afraid that now that Lu Tianze was rehabilitated, the Lu family would look down on Lin Xixi in the future.

They were city folk, and they looked down on country folk the most.

But she couldn’t say such words; it wouldn’t look good. So she repeatedly told Lin Xixi to take care of herself and said, “This is your maternal home now.”

Having a family of a regimental cadre as a maternal home sounded better than having a maternal home in the countryside.

Lin Xixi said, “Auntie, don’t worry.”

With her previous life as a reference, even if she went to Beijing to be a maid for the Lu family, she had already surpassed her previous life.

Moreover, she had already given birth to two children for Lu Tianze. Every time a child was born, the old lady in Beijing would send a lot of things and money.

The old lady’s husband and eldest son had passed away, and what she most wanted to see was the prosperity of the Lu family. With Lin Xixi bearing two children in three years, it perfectly suited her wishes.

With these two children, Lin Xixi knew she wouldn’t have to worry about the rest of her life.

In this lifetime, she finally lived the life she wanted.

That year, the country organized a unified examination for students recommended by various provinces. This was the closest thing to the “gaokao” (national college entrance examination) since its abolition, making Qiao Wei momentarily question her memory. She remembered that the revival of the gaokao happened much later in the historical timeline, supposedly after the passing of the great leader.

At such moments, she wished she could knock on her head to remember those important historical dates. But in reality, most ordinary people were like this; they knew the gist of history and some significant events, but as for specific years, since they didn’t need to take history exams, who would bother to remember those?

Who could predict in advance that they were going to transmigrate?

As it turned out, Qiao Wei hadn’t remembered wrong; this examination wasn’t the revival of the gaokao.

Qiao Wei actually wanted to use the revival of the gaokao as an opportunity to push Yan Xiang forward. Ultimately, hiding him away couldn’t last forever. Qiao Wei wanted to find the right time to introduce Yan Xiang as a “young genius.”

Because she knew that the environment a small county town could provide for Yan Xiang was too limited. Yan Xiang needed a higher-level platform.