Chapter 57

In the morning, Yan Lei insisted that Qiao Wei run ahead.

“Why?” 

“I run too fast, afraid you can’t catch up.”

Without a word, Qiao Wei started to accelerate.

Yan Lei closely followed her. No matter how fast she accelerated, she couldn’t shake him off.

With a smile, Yan Lei’s gaze remained on Qiao Wei’s back.

She wasn’t a soldier, nor a student, yet she was out for a run early in the morning.

Among the families, they hadn’t seen anyone like her. Most families would first put on an apron in the morning, pick up a spoon, and prepare breakfast for the whole family.

But Yan Lei just loved the sight of Qiao Wei running.

The rhythmic movement of her body, sweating in the morning light, exuded vitality.

Indeed, if he didn’t disturb her too late at night, allowing her to get up for a morning run, her day would start with such vitality.

Breakfast was a porridge, with chopped scallions mixed in, very fragrant.

Qiao Wei said, “These scallions were given to me by Sister-in-law Zhao. The ones you planted, why do I see them sprouting seedlings for everything else, but those scallions barely budged? Did the seeds not germinate?”

Truly, city folks who knew nothing about farming.

Yan Lei expressed disdain: “Scallions, planted this year, even if they grow fast, you’ll have to wait until next year to eat them. It’s already good if they sprout a little seedling for you this year.”

Before leaving, Yan Lei had to inspect his precious vegetable patch, squatting down to see how much taller the seedlings had grown since yesterday.

He specially instructed Qiao Wei, “Tell Xiang Xiang to be careful. Don’t let her trample all over the yard.”

Treating them like treasures.

When Yan Xiang woke up, Dad had already gone to work.

Qiao Wei made porridge for him. If you’re willing to add eggs, porridge tastes good, and the child ends up with oil all over his mouth.

Qiao Wei asked him, “Are you still going to paint the walls with Mom today?”

Yan Xiang nodded, “Together!”

“Alright, today’s goal is the outer room of your room and the east wall of the hall.”

“Okay!”

The old-fashioned house had a central hall, with rooms on the east and west sides divided into inner and outer rooms.

The inner room was the bedroom. The outer room on the west side was the study, and the outer room on the east side held miscellaneous items.

“In this era, even furniture is limited, so the house appears very empty.

The outer room is smaller than the inner bedroom. After Qiao Wei and Yan Xiang finished painting the outer room, they painted one wall of the living room.

“Alright, let’s stop here for today,” Qiao Wei said.

Just like yesterday, they only painted in the morning, leaving the afternoon for Yan Xiang to play and read.

At noon, Qiao Wei cooked in the kitchen while Yan Xiang played in the sandbox.

The sandbox was located under the shade of trees, avoiding direct sunlight.

After playing for a while, Yan Xiang looked up at the sky and ran to the kitchen door to tell Qiao Wei, “Mom, the clouds are blocking the sun.”

Qiao Wei also noticed that the room was getting dimmer. She peeked out from the door and said, “Looks like it’s going to rain.”

“It was sunny in the morning. Is it going to rain?” Yan Xiang asked.

Sure enough, as they were having lunch, a drizzle began to fall.

This was the first rain since Qiao Wei moved here.

“Listen,” Qiao Wei said.

Listening carefully, there were no sounds of cars or machines here.

Drip, drip, splatter.

Rain hit the tiles, and water trickled through the stones, creating a splashing sound.

“It’s really quiet,” Yan Xiang said.

After finishing their meal, it was time for Yan Xiang to take a nap.

Sitting on the cool bed with his legs dangling, Yan Xiang asked Qiao Wei, “Mom, can I sleep here? It’s very quiet.”

Yan Xiang’s “quiet” meant another kind of quiet. Qiao Wei understood.

“Of course,” she said.

She went inside to get him a buckwheat husk pillow.

Yan Xiang happily took off his shoes and laid down on the cool bed.

“Mom, why does water fall from the sky?” he asked.

Qiao Wei explained, “That’s a long story starting from the evaporation of water from the oceans and rivers. Do you remember when Mom explained the structure of the Earth’s atmosphere to you…”

She also sat on the cool bed, leaning against a cushion, slowly explaining the structure and workings of the world to Yan Xiang.

The rain pattered softly, cooling and refreshing, dispelling the summer heat.

Supported by the soft cushion.

Tweaking the child’s cheek, his face twitched.

The more Qiao Wei talked, the heavier her eyelids felt, and the child in her arms offered no resistance, his palm rubbing his smooth cheek, hearing her own voice growing slower and farther away…

When she opened her eyes again, the rain had stopped, and the sunlight cut along the edge of the eaves, casting light into the courtyard.

The air remained moist, and the cobblestone path sparkled.

She had slept so comfortably that she didn’t want to get up at all.

But the child’s feet were pressing against her chin.

Qiao Wei: “…”

How did she end up falling asleep on the cool bed with Yan Xiang?

Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and patted Yan Xiang’s bottom, “Wake up, wake up.”

Yan Xiang groggily opened his eyes, yawned, and immediately sat up, looking for his shoes to wear.

He ran to the cobblestone path, bouncing, “Mom, look!”

The cobblestone path wasn’t wide, narrow, but after being washed by the rain, it was fresh and clean.

“No need to step on mud!” Yan Xiang said excitedly.

Before, after rain, the courtyard would be damp, and they had to step on bricks. If they accidentally slipped, they’d step into mud.

After laying down these two paths, everything became clean, and mud wouldn’t be tracked into the house anymore.

Yan Xiang ran around on the path, giggling.

The sandbox was wet, so they couldn’t play there for now.

But they could play with mud. After all, who doesn’t play with mud after it rains? “

Yan Lei returned home to find the windowsill filled with small “sculptures”. Cubes, spheres, trapezoids, cones, small animals that might be cats or dogs, snakes, plates, bowls, and even a teapot that was almost collapsing.

Yan Xiang introduced to his dad, “This is what I made, and this is what Mom made.”

“Dad, who do you think is better, me or Mom?”

Obviously, inheriting the skill of diplomacy, Yan Lei replied calmly, “Xiang Xiang’s sculptures look nice, and Mom’s are excellent.”

Clearly, Yan Xiang was also pleased with this evaluation. Although his own sculptures were good, he couldn’t say that Mom’s were bad.

Dad made the right call.

Yan Lei entered the living room and exclaimed, “Progress is good.”

He then asked, “Where’s Mom?”

“In the kitchen,” came the reply.

Yan Lei changed out of his uniform and went to the kitchen, where he found Qiao Wei cooking.

He took over the spatula and said, “You’re not tired today? Why are you still cooking?”

“After you helped me knead yesterday, I felt much better. Today, my arms aren’t sore anymore,” Qiao Wei said. “And we’ve found our rhythm today, so we’re not in such a rush anymore. Yesterday we started too aggressively.”

It’s better to take it easy while painting, not so tiring.

Besides, there’s no rush.

“Today, the paint mix was just right. Actually, we didn’t plan to paint the whole room yesterday; we just wanted to paint the three walls around the kang first. But we mixed too much paint, so we had to continue. Then we ran out of the mix, the walls weren’t fully painted, so we had to mix more…”

Yan Lei understood instantly, “Exactly, I feel the same way. If things aren’t done just right, if one task isn’t completed properly, and if there isn’t a suitable pace to stop at, it feels particularly uncomfortable.”

Qiao Wei laughed, “That’s called OCD.”

She told him about someone who always couldn’t confirm whether they had locked the door before leaving, so after locking it, they would do a military salute, which eventually evolved to the point where after locking the door, they had to perform a whole set of military exercises.

Of course, because it’s uncertain whether there’s already a standardized military exercise routine, Qiao Wei only mentioned “exercises” without specifying “military exercises”.

Yan Lei laughed so hard that his stomach hurt, “Who is this, from the old district or the big courtyard?”

Qiao Wei said seriously, “I don’t know, I heard it when I was buying groceries.”

Qiao Wei’s social life has improved compared to before, with more interaction with neighbors.

Yan Lei said as he cooked, “This person is a real character.”

Later, this joke spread to the army. For a while, everyone was eager to find out who the fool was who locked the door and then had to perform a whole set of exercises.

There were indeed a few “characters” in the army, but of course, no one would admit it.

Later, there were debates about whether it was Southern Fist or Northern Fist, Chang Quan or Wing Chun, and different versions emerged, each holding their own opinions, causing a heated argument.

As for the progress of painting the room, the western inner and outer rooms were done, and one wall of the living room was painted.

“Tomorrow, we’ll finish painting the living room.”

That was Qiao Wei’s plan.

“What about Xiang Xiang…” Yan Lei asked tentatively.

“Xiang Xiang will sleep with us first. After finishing the living room, we’ll send him back.”

Yan Lei was delighted.

Sure enough, the next day the living room looked completely refreshed.

Originally, the photo frames and chairman portrait on the wall were removed and placed on a table. The tables, desks, low cabinets, and shoe cabinets were temporarily moved away from the walls.

“We’ll move them back when the paint dries tomorrow.” Qiao Wei grimaced, “I can’t do it anymore today. Those tables and the table are too heavy; Xiang Xiang can’t help either. I had to drag them out by myself.”

At that time, there were no plywood boards; all the furniture was made of solid wood, heavy as anything.

Yan Lei said, “Don’t worry about it tomorrow; wait for me to come back. I’ll handle the moving.”

“Then help me move the wardrobe in our bedroom today. I’ll be painting our room tomorrow.”

“Okay!”

Just after finishing dinner and returning home, Captain Zhao came over holding a bottle of wine. “Your sister-in-law won’t let me drink at home.”

There were many kids at home, all learning bad habits, imitating their father’s drinking. The adults forbade it, but they drank sneakily.

Sister Yang kicked Captain Zhao out.

Qiao Wei brought out a plate of peanuts.

Captain Zhao was both surprised and delighted. “You’ve guessed I’d come, haven’t you?”

Qiao Wei laughed, “You timed it right.”

Today, there were fried peanuts at the canteen. Snacks were scarce in this era, and Qiao Wei had developed a bit of a hoarding instinct; if she saw something, she couldn’t leave it there and packed it in a lunchbox to take home.

Who knew Captain Zhao would come at just the right time?

A small table was set up in the courtyard, and Qiao Wei even lit mosquito coils for them.

Captain Zhao stood at the doorway and looked into the living room. “What’s going on here?”

Yan Lei chuckled, “The walls in the house are dirty, and this cleanliness freak of ours insists on repainting them. So, here we are, bit by bit every day, and in a couple more days, it’ll be done.”

“Your sister-in-law is doing it all alone?”

Captain Zhao truly admired Qiao Wei. Who said the siblings of the Yan family couldn’t handle tough jobs?

“And me! Zhao Dada! And me too!” Yan Xiang piped up.

“Oh! And our little Xiang!” Captain Zhao gave him a thumbs up and even fed him a peanut.

It smelled so good.

Yan Xiang was delighted.

Men always open up when they drink.

Their hometowns weren’t too far apart, belonging to the same region, so they had a lot in common.

Qiao Wei listened from inside the house, separated by the window. Originally, they had accents when they spoke, but as they continued, they stopped speaking Mandarin altogether, using only their local dialect.

They drank quite merrily; Yan Lei was slightly tipsy. After seeing Captain Zhao off and freshening up, he was a bit more awake.

He peeked into the eastern room first—it was fine, Yan Xiang was sleeping alone in his own brand-new, clean bedroom.

With a heart full of joy, Yan Lei went to the western room—

Qiao Wei was already asleep.

No matter how not tired, it was still physical work after all.

With increased physical activity, sleep quality improved. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Yan Lei: “…”

Some comrades who love drinking really waste time!

Wait till tomorrow, wait till tomorrow. Yan Lei comforted himself.

Yan Xiang had also returned to his own room, waiting for tomorrow.

The next day, Yan Lei came back with anticipation.

The bedroom in the western room was also painted. Clean and fresh, like a newlywed’s room.

Yan Lei, full of energy, first rearranged the furniture and cabinets in the living room.

Looking forward to the night.

In the evening, Qiao Wei said, “Come, let’s sleep in Yan Xiang’s room.”

Yan Lei: “?”

“Our room is painted; we need some air. Let’s sleep in Xiang Xiang’s room for a couple of days.”

“Mama, Papa!” Yan Xiang bounced on his bed, welcoming the two guests as the host of the room. “Come quickly.”

He even assigned positions: “Dad sleeps on this end, and Mom and I will sleep on this end.”

Everything was well-organized.

He didn’t know that in the middle of the night, as the father looked at his fragrant wife holding their fragrant son, he couldn’t sleep out of anger.