Chapter 44

At this time, there were contraceptive measures available, but very few people used them.

This was still under the premise of Aunt Deng’s strong advocacy.

Mainly, people at this time didn’t have the awareness of contraception. It was considered natural and proper for men and women to marry and have children one after another.

Who didn’t have four or five children? And they were all left alive.

But after Qiao Wei gave birth to Yan Xiang, she didn’t want to have any more children. When she was in the hospital, she asked the doctor if there was any way not to conceive and was educated by the doctor about this contraceptive tool.

This thing had to be applied for at the workplace. She endured the embarrassment and let Yan Lei apply for it at the health department of the army.

They had a quarrel at the time, followed by a cold war between husband and wife, but in the end, Yan Lei compromised.

Qiao Wei was very grateful to Yan Lei.

Indeed, although she and Yan Lei had been getting along well since crossing over, they hadn’t reached the point where she wanted to have children with this man.

With this roughly made tool, Yan Lei’s experience would definitely be greatly diminished, but Qiao Wei could avoid the pain of pregnancy and childbirth, thus fully enjoying the pleasure between man and woman.

Qiao Wei gasped, clinging tightly to Yan Lei’s shoulders.

Yan Lei had also been holding back for too long and didn’t dare to move immediately. In the dimness, the rapid breathing of the two was particularly clear.

The light in the study was still on, and a vertical light spot was cast on the wall through the gap in the curtain.

Qiao Wei looked up at that spot of light.

It seemed like a manifestation of time.

She traversed dimensions of time, age, and even the world, blending with a man from a different era.

She withdrew her gaze and looked at Yan Lei.

Yan Lei was also looking at her.

After a long time, their lips touched lightly, and this seemed to open the floodgates, unleashing a storm.

At this time, the country’s army was still equipped with rifles and bayonets.

Qiao Wei couldn’t imagine how brave Yan Lei must have been on the battlefield to become a regimental commander at his age.

The explosive power of a man made you think he was sprinting every time, but there was always another time.

However, unfortunately, Yan Lei, with such powerful strength, seemed to… only know one position.

Qiao Wei: “…”

With such a long time in the same position, neither could bear it, even their skeletal frames couldn’t bear it.

But she couldn’t just dictate to Yan Lei; she had to remember her position, that she was still in the beginner’s village, just like him.

Qiao Wei bit her lip and whimpered twice.

Yan Lei stopped, “What’s wrong?”

Qiao Wei said, “My joints hurt from being pressed.”

As she spoke, she poked at the root of her leg with her fingers.

Yan Lei hesitated, “Then…”

Qiao Wei said, “Lift my legs, they’re about to cramp.”

Yan Lei did as she asked, asking with concern, “Feeling better?”

“It’s better now. Just keep them lifted like this, it hurts when you put them down,” Qiao Wei said.

Then… Yan Lei hesitated again.

Fortunately, Qiao Wei said, “You can continue.”

Yan Lei breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t dare to put down Qiao Wei’s legs, afraid that she would be in pain.

So be it.

But as Yan Lei continued, he immediately discovered something amazing.

Something that couldn’t be spoken of.

And certainly not something he dared to let her find out.

With each movement, their breathing became heavier.

Qiao Wei whimpered again, “My back hurts.”

Yan Lei hurriedly asked, “What should I do?”

Qiao Wei said, “I’ve been lying down for too long, let me turn on my side.”

Yan Lei supported her as she slowly turned to her side.

Qiao Wei let out a relieved sigh, as if her back didn’t hurt as much anymore, “You can continue.”

It was quite marvelous.

The marvel of it, Yan Lei increasingly appreciated.

This was truly a stroke of luck, he thought.

Who knew it could be like this?

After changing positions twice, he experienced the marvel. The innate instincts of a man were no longer suppressed.

“Otherwise, I see you’re getting tired of lying on your side. How about you lie on your stomach?” Yan Lei tentatively suggested.

Oh, he was quite adept at self-learning.

Qiao Wei replied in a feigned manner, “Then what will you do?”

Yan Lei said, “I’m fine, I can handle it. As long as your back doesn’t hurt.”

Qiao Wei buried her face in the wheat husk pillow, “Mm!”

With this three-part unlock, Yan Lei felt as if he had discovered a new world.

He couldn’t even remember how they went from lying on their stomachs to kneeling.

Until he lay down, he had a feeling of unreality.

What had they done?

Was it okay to do this? Was it right? Good?

Wasn’t she angry?

He felt too shameless!

Yan Lei even began to feel ashamed, belatedly.

Both ashamed and unsatisfied.

Qiao Wei was exhausted, lying on his chest complaining, “The bed is too hard, my knees hurt.”

It seemed she wasn’t angry because of that.

“Will it be possible in the future?”

Yan Lei’s feelings of shame and unease were swept away in an instant. He perked up and gently gathered her back, saying, “Let me lay another layer for you.”

Although her knees were aching a bit, Qiao Wei was very satisfied tonight and her exhaustion led her to murmur a few complaints before drifting off.

Gently laying her down, Yan Lei quietly got up and went to the courtyard.

The contraceptive device was quite troublesome; it needed to be cleaned promptly. After washing and drying it, before putting it back into the box, it needed to be rubbed inside and out with the powder in the box to ensure even distribution. Otherwise, the rubber would stick together, causing a lot of trouble.

Yan Lei carefully placed it back in the closet after preparing it properly.

He would need to use it again tomorrow.

However, he found it difficult to fall asleep again after lying back down.

Turning to look at Qiao Wei, all the lights were off, and in the darkness, he could only vaguely see her silhouette.

He reached out to place his hand on her shoulder, gently stroking her arm.

Qiao Wei muttered sleepily, “Sleep…”

Then there was silence.

The Tuesday morning sunlight was truly beautiful.

Early in the morning, Yan Lei walked out of the house, feeling the pleasant warmth of the pale golden sunlight on his face.

He fastened his uniform button, took off his hat from the hook under the eaves, put it on, and noticed the three cushions on Qiao Wei’s cot.

He had promised to get her some hay; he couldn’t forget.

But he also glanced at those three cushions, adjusted his hat, went over to rearrange them, looked at them with satisfaction, and then briskly walked out.

Qiao Wei had expended a lot of energy yesterday, so she woke up later than Yan Xiang.

Yawning and rubbing her waist as she came out of the house, Yan Xiang had already started digging in the sandbox.

For a child, this sandbox was a magnificent project in his life. He was full of spirit.

Qiao Wei looked at the time; she estimated that the canteen in the courtyard would have closed by now. Feeling a bit guilty, she asked Yan Xiang, “Are you hungry?”

Yan Xiang smiled broadly, “I ate some biscuits.”

Qiao Wei had heard her mother say that in their generation, they were not allowed to open any tasty treats at home without their parents’ permission. Because it was very likely those treats weren’t meant for the family but for giving as gifts.

So after buying biscuits yesterday, she opened them at home and let Yan Xiang see where she kept them in the cabinet. She told him, “It’s right here, already opened. If you want to eat some, just help yourself.”

“Biscuits bought are meant for the family to eat.”

“But you’re not allowed to eat too much at once, and you can’t eat them just before meals. It shouldn’t affect your proper meal.”

Yan Xiang happily agreed.

Thankfully, she told Yan Xiang this yesterday. Today, when she didn’t wake up, Yan Xiang knew to help himself to the biscuits, so he didn’t go hungry.

Qiao Wei made a sunny-side-up egg for herself. She ensured that the children got at least one egg’s nutrition every day.

She was very generous with the sesame oil, and even Yan Xiang, playing in the sandbox, could smell its fragrance: “Wow~”

Qiao Wei drank quickly, finishing first. She went over and found that in the sandbox she had marked out, Yan Xiang had drawn a few more lines, albeit somewhat crookedly.

Although not perfectly even, it roughly divided the sandbox into several symmetrical sections.

One of them was the part dug out yesterday.

Qiao Wei looked at it for a moment, then turned and called out, “Xiang Xiang, come over here.”

Yan Xiang had just bitten open the egg yolk, hurriedly sucked it up, wiped his mouth, and came over, “Coming.”

Pointing at the lines in the sandbox, Qiao Wei asked, “What does this mean?”

Could it be what she was thinking?

Sure enough, Yan Xiang pointed to the sandbox and said, “This part was dug yesterday. I’ll do it like this, like this, and like this, making each section almost the same size. I’ll dig one section each day.”

“Mom,” the child raised his head, his eyes bright, “I counted. I still need to dig five sections. One section each day, so I’ll finish digging in five days.”

Qiao Wei: “…”

How old are you again?

How can you be so organized and planned?

Qiao Wei searched for her memories. The original owner had taught Yan Xiang numbers from 1 to 10, but that was about it. After all, the child was still young.

At this age, he was just in kindergarten. Learning to dress himself, button his clothes, and even go to the bathroom by himself were their main learning goals.

But Yan Xiang seemed to be more than that.

Over in the courtyard, there was a daycare center and kindergarten combined, taking care of the children.

Even infants as young as a few months old could be sent there.

It was an internal facility, so the teachers were all military dependents, which also solved the employment issue for some families. Because so many cadres’ families were placed there, there were even times when there were more “teachers” than children.

Fortunately, everyone was very fertile, and soon the number of children caught up again.

The original owner had visited before and found that these “teachers” were actually rural women, illiterate, and very poor in hygiene.

Moreover, their own children were also in there. “Teachers” often favored their own children and would sometimes bully other children.

Parents arguing and fighting was not uncommon.

Of course, the main issue was hygiene. The original owner was a bit of a clean freak, and many of the practices of those military-dependent teachers triggered her. She didn’t send Yan Xiang there but instead took care of him at home.

Yan Xiang was obviously a very clever child. But after sorting through her memories, Qiao Wei realized that the daycare/kindergarten hybrid couldn’t teach children much. It could only provide the most basic child care function.

Because some family members had jobs and couldn’t take care of their children, there was a need for it.

After Yan Xiang finished eating a bowl of sunny-side-up egg soup, Qiao Wei washed the dishes, and Yan Xiang had already found a small shovel and brought a bucket for Qiao Wei. “Mom, let’s go!”

What’s on a child’s schedule for the day?

Collecting pebbles.

Digging in the sandbox.

“Eating lunch, taking a nap

Then picking up pebbles.

Then digging a sandpit.

Eating dinner, eating fruit.

Playing with Dad, listening to Mom tell stories.

Going to bed.

Wow, today is another happy day~

But Qiao Wei wiped her hands and didn’t rush to leave: “Come with me.”

She took Yan Xiang to the study room, took out paper and pen, wrote a few words, and taught him: “This is work, work’s work, workers’ work. This is people, workers’ people, people’s people, men, woman. This is female, mother is female, father and Xiangxiang are male. This is the field of fields, this is the force of strength. Tian is written on top, and force is written below to form a new word, which is man’s male. Xiangxiang and dad are men.”

Yan Xiang said, “Uncle Zhao is also a man; Gangzi, Huazi, and Junjun are all men; Mom and Aunt Yang are women; Yingzi and Wu Nier are also women. Men go to the men’s bathhouse, women go to the women’s bathhouse.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Xiang Xiang is really smart,” Qiao Wei praised him.

She taught him the characters for ‘work’, ‘person’, ‘woman’, ‘field’, ‘strength’, and ‘man’.

“We’re going to pick up pebbles. When we come back, I’ll test Xiang Xiang to see if he has forgotten these characters. If he hasn’t, I’ll teach him more characters.”

Yan Xiang was unwilling: “I still have to dig a sandpit.”

What’s wrong with Mom for delaying my grand project?

Qiao Wei’s eyes turned: “Then, if Xiang Xiang can learn all these characters and not forget them, will you reward Xiang Xiang with a piece of candy?”

There is candy at home, the kind wrapped in paper.

But fearing that children would eat candy without restraint, the candy is kept high up. Qiao Wei controls how much he eats every day, usually two or three pieces a day. No more than that.

Sure enough, Yan Xiang’s eyes lit up instantly.

Very good, Qiao Wei stepped into the book, took over her husband, took over the child, now, the child’s education should also be put on the agenda.

But when she reached out to rub Yan Xiang’s little head, her heart suddenly contracted.

A feeling of sourness and regret filled her chest, then dissipated like smoke, all was well.

Qiao Wei pressed her heart.

Qiao Wei, leave this child to me; don’t worry.