Chapter 40

Lin Xixi, relying on the fact that she was a reborn person, looked down on the people of this era, but she didn’t dare to look down on her own uncle and aunt.

Because in the past half of her life, her uncle was the only respectable relative from her maternal family. Almost all the dignity she had in her in-laws’ house was given by her uncle.

Her aunt was very virtuous. Of course, she couldn’t compare emotionally to her biological mother, but her help was much stronger than her biological mother’s.

Lin Xixi was very reliant on her uncle and aunt.

She bit her lip and confided in her aunt.

“There’s this guy with a particularly bright future. I had a chance to go on a blind date with him, but I didn’t go, and I regret it.”

Sister Yang thought it was something serious, but it turned out to be such a thing.

“Sigh.” She heaved a sigh of relief, “There’s not a shortage of men in the world. If you miss this one, there will be others. Our military area has plenty of young men!”

Lin Xixi was distressed, “Auntie, you don’t understand, his future is exceptionally bright.”

If Lin Xixi had talked about how much she liked a younger man, Sister Yang might have been puzzled. However, Lin Xixi kept repeating “his future is good” and “exceptionally good.”

This meant that she wasn’t actually interested in the person. She just felt regretful about missing the opportunity and couldn’t get over it.

“What’s the big deal? Can’t you go meet him again?”Sister Yang scoffed, “You said it yourself, his future is exceptionally bright. Have you ever thought that since his future is so good, if you meet him again, he might take an interest in you?”

Lin Xixi was taken aback.

“You think just because you meet someone once, they’re guaranteed to be yours?”

“Even if you know a young man with such a bright future, how many families would want their daughters to meet him? Why would it be your turn?”

“Proud men, like your Uncle Yan, he’s one of them. He wouldn’t even spare a glance at rural girls; he’s set on marrying city girls. Even if you went to meet him, it wouldn’t make a difference.”

Sister Yang casually inserted a bit of personal opinion, mentioning Yan Lei.

She didn’t know that she accidentally hit the nail on the head—Yan Lei was the one Lin Xixi regretted missing.

Lin Xixi was completely stunned.

Before her death, she had heard from her aunt about how the man she missed out on a blind date with became wealthy and successful. It had filled her with regret.

What she regretted was missing out.

What did she miss out on? Until just now, she had thought it was the wealth and success of being an official’s wife.

But just now, Sister Yang’s words awakened her. What she had actually missed was just one blind date—even if she had met him then, Yan Lei might not have been interested in her.

It was strange—Lin Xixi and Yan Lei unexpectedly shared the same view on this matter. Both of them were pursuing “city people.”

“Hey? Hey?” Sister Yang shook Lin Xixi’s shoulder, feeling a bit alarmed, “Xixi, Xixi!”

Lin Xixi’s eyes were glazed over.

It turned out that the wealth and success might not have been meant for her. Of course, she had been reborn, and Yan Lei’s wife was living a good life. Perhaps this was Heaven’s way of telling her that Yan Lei’s wealth and success were not meant to be hers.

The goal Lin Xixi had since her rebirth suddenly collapsed and vanished. The stubbornness disappeared in an instant, leaving her feeling dazed.

She didn’t eat her meal; she just told Sister Yang she wanted to sleep.

Sister Yang didn’t insist, took the meal, and left quietly. She later confided in Captain Zhao while hiding in the house.

Captain Zhao asked directly, “Who is it? Who is it?”

“I don’t know, she didn’t say.” Sister Yang replied, “But judging from her expression, I wonder if the person is already engaged?”

Saying so didn’t really fit Yan Lei’s situation. Yan Lei had been married for several years, and their child was already this big. They also felt they might have misunderstood Lin Xixi before.

Captain Zhao asked, “So, are she and Xiao Zhang together or not?”

“Oh, I forgot to ask.”

“I’ll go ask.”

“Don’t go, the child has already gone to bed. Let her figure it out on her own first. You can’t force her on this matter.”

“No rush,” Sister Yang said, “She’s still young anyway.”

Lin Xixi was particularly capable and could give Sister Yang some relief. She was indeed still young, so there was no need to rush. Sister Yang also thought about keeping her at home for another couple of years, which would make things easier for herself.

Captain Zhao agreed.

On the other side, in Yan Lei’s home, dinner was over. Yan Lei had brewed a pot of soapberry water for Qiao Wei.

Soapberries were also bought at the market today, specifically for Qiao Wei to use for washing her hair.

The bathhouse was only open twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. Qiao Wei had missed the Friday session, so the next time she could shower would be next Tuesday.

In the meantime, they had to bathe and wash their hair at home.

Yan Xiang took off his shoes and sat on the new bamboo recliner, swinging his small white feet back and forth. He nibbled on a piece of dried sweet potato that he couldn’t chew properly, watching his father slowly pour the boiled soapberry water into a basin and his mother bending over, washing his hair with the flowing water.

As his father helped his mother wash his hair, he instructed her on what needed to be done on Monday. The two of them talked in a low voice, accompanied by the sound of flowing water.

Yan Xiang used all her strength to munch on the dried sweet potato.

At this moment, Yan Xiang was still young and didn’t understand many things. But he could feel whether the air was warm or cold.

The air this evening was warm and carried the fresh scent of soapberries.

This scene was etched into her long-term memory, later becoming her favorite memory to recall.

“Not bad,” Qiao Wei affirmed the effectiveness of the soapberry water for washing her hair, “It removes oil well and feels good on the hands.”

“Yeah, this is something I’ve used since I was a child,” Yan Lei said, “Actually, there are many good things in the countryside.”

“As long as it doesn’t smell bad, I can accept it. Smelly things are a no-go,” Qiao Wei said.

Yan Lei chuckled and replaced the warm soapberry water with clean water to rinse her hair.

At night, when they got into bed, Yan Lei felt a string around her waist.

“Aren’t you supposed to have stopped using this?” he said.

“You’re right, but it’s not gone yet,” she replied.

“Then…”

“No,” Qiao Wei refused directly.

Yan Lei felt disheartened.

Qiao Wei explained to him, “Although it’s only a little left, as long as there’s still bleeding, it means the cervix hasn’t closed. Engaging in intercourse at this time could easily lead to gynecological infections, which would be troublesome.”

Yan Lei remained silent for a long time.

Qiao Wei thought he wasn’t interested in this topic, but after a while, he suddenly asked, “Does gynecological infections cause a bad smell in the crotch?”

“…” Qiao Wei said, “It’s possible.”

He asked again, “Can gynecological infections be cured?”

Qiao Wei replied, “Of course.”

In the darkness, Qiao Wei heard Yan Lei let out a soft sigh.

Qiao Wei guessed that someone related to this topic was involved.

There seemed to be something appearing in her memory, but it was heavily filtered, like it was wrapped in a layer of isolating material and couldn’t be seen clearly. Whenever she tried to delve further, a strong sense of disgust and irritability would arise.

It was even stronger than the disgust she felt when she first met Yan Lei.

Qiao Wei couldn’t ask Yan Lei about it, so she could only temporarily skip this topic.

The next morning, when Captain Zhao got up and checked, Lin Xixi had already gotten up and was cooking breakfast for everyone.

Captain Zhao was particularly pleased with his niece’s diligence and virtue, thinking that based on this alone, she deserved to find a good husband.

“What’s wrong? Why do you look so upset?” he asked.

Lin Xixi was feeling very confused at the moment. But years of habits still led her to get up early to cook breakfast for the whole family.

Seeing her uncle getting up, she also felt listless. “I didn’t sleep well,” she said.

Sister Yang signaled to Captain Zhao with her eyes, asking him not to press their niece. Captain Zhao understood and didn’t say much; he just casually asked as he ate breakfast, “How was your outing with Xiao Zhang yesterday?”

Lin Xixi’s spoon paused.

Although she was still in a muddle and hadn’t figured out what to do in the future, she had to deal with Xiao Zhang’s matter now.

If she didn’t clarify things, it might be assumed that she was agreeing to be his girlfriend.

“I don’t want to be his girlfriend,” she told her uncle directly.

Sister Yang felt a bit regretful, “What’s wrong? Xiao Zhang is quite clever.”

Having a driver with a car made it much more convenient and comfortable to go to the city compared to taking the bus. Asking the driver to run errands for them also made life much easier.

The driver was someone whose relationship needed to be maintained by everyone. There were many benefits in daily life.

“If you don’t like Xiao Zhang,” Captain Zhao asked, “then how about Xiao Liu? Xiao Cao?”

Sister Yang also said, “Xiao Cao is not bad.”

Lin Xixi knew that even though she might not marry Yan Lei in the end, she would definitely have to marry someone else in the future.

But Zhang Guoqiang wouldn’t do. He was from the countryside. Others like Zhang Guoqiang wouldn’t do either.

She relied heavily on her uncle and aunt for this matter, and she wasn’t a real young girl who would feel shy or embarrassed about such things. She directly told them, “Uncle, Auntie, I don’t want to marry someone from the countryside.”

Captain Zhao was so angry that his neck stiffened. “You’re from the countryside yourself. I’m from the countryside, and your aunt is from the countryside too.”

“It’s precisely because we’re from the countryside that we should avoid marrying someone from the countryside,” Lin Xixi said.

In the era of the planned economy, when buying things required tickets, rural areas even had advantages over cities in terms of food and other aspects. But in the future, after the reform and opening up, with skyscrapers rising in cities, the gap between rural and urban areas will become like heaven and earth.

“What nonsense! You’re just like Yan,” Captain Zhao scolded, poking at his food with his chopsticks.

Sister Yang said, “What’s wrong with having a bit of high-mindedness? Besides, as the old saying goes, ‘Bend down to marry off a daughter, lift up to marry off a son.’ It’s just common sense.”

“Alright, alright,” Captain Zhao said as he ate with his chopsticks. “Then how about Xiao Liu, Xiao Cao, and Xiao Wang?”

“But aren’t they all from the countryside?” Lin Xixi said softly.

Although it was said that the working class, peasants, and soldiers were all one big family, in reality, everyone had their own bottom line. City people were city people, and country people were country people.

So why was Lin Xixi so sought-after on blind dates? Because all the candidates Captain Zhao found for her were from rural backgrounds. In this era, the urbanization rate of the country was only a little over thirty percent, and almost everyone in the military was from a rural background.

From the perspective of these rural men, Lin Xixi is simply the perfect wife.

“Ah, looking for someone from the city…” Captain Zhao scratched his chin.

This raised the difficulty level.

“Uncle, I’m only seventeen,” Lin Xixi said. “There’s no rush.”

Sister Yang also said, “That’s right, no rush. You can write a letter to your sister and let Xixi stay with us and take her time.”

But after this conversation, Lin Xixi’s mind gradually cleared up.

“Uncle, I don’t want to go back. I can help Auntie with the work here. I can do any job,” she made a request. “Uncle, can you see if my household registration can be transferred here first?”

Lin Xixi was still confused about the future. The past ten years had been too chaotic, and now it seemed like any choice had risks.

But at least for now, she could take the first step—changing her household registration.

She could change her identity from a rural person to an urban one.

The female lead’s actions began to move in the right direction.

If Qiao Wei knew, she would definitely give Lin Xixi a thumbs up.