Chapter 58

There’s nothing new in small towns. Even painting a wall at home can attract visitors.

Sister Yang came over carrying a bunch of freshly picked vegetables from her own yard as a gift: “Old Zhao said your house has been freshly painted white; I came to take a look.”

When the cobblestone path was laid, Sister Yang came to have a look and praised it.

She said earnestly, “It’s time to tidy up the yard. Once the house is tidied up, it feels like a real home.”

Both she and Old Zhao could see that the relationship between this couple had improved recently.

According to Old Zhao, Yan, now radiant and full of vigor, waxed the floor when the weather got cold…well, you know what I mean.

Anyway, those who didn’t know thought that they had received a raise.

But Sister Yang and Old Zhao knew that it was because the relationship between the Yan couple had improved.

The night before last, Old Zhao went to Yan Lei’s to drink, and didn’t come back until very late. Remembering this, he told Sister Yang, “The Yan family seems quite diligent.”

“What’s wrong?”

“They painted the walls.”

Sister Yang found it interesting, and since there wasn’t much going on today, she remembered it and brought some vegetables over to chat with Qiao Wei.

“After the cleaning, it’s like a whole new place.” Sister Yang exclaimed, “I remember when you two got married, the courtyard wasn’t built yet, and there was a shortage of houses here. Yan was assigned the room on the west side, and he painted it all white. Both families shared the living room, and he painted that too.”

“At that time, each family had an Eight Immortals table. His was new, making the Li family’s table look old. He even painted the Li family’s set with new paint. It looked brand new.”

“He even used buckets of water to clean the stones at the foot of the outhouse. He sprinkled a lot of insecticide powder too.”

“The Li family told me…uh, they said…uh, it’s really clean.”

Actually, at that time, the family members of the other family living together said, “Just because he married someone from the city, he’s pretending to be something.”

Sister Yang almost slipped and said something rude.

Qiao Wei actually enjoyed listening to this trivial gossip from the old ladies.

In her previous life, it was because she felt that it was more engaging than lying in bed and scrolling through her phone.

Now, because there were no phones to scroll through, gossip has become an important form of entertainment.

Sister Yang spoke quickly, with a bit of a rural accent, but her descriptions were vivid. Qiao Wei could almost see the enthusiasm and expectations Yan Lei had for his marriage and spouse from several years ago.

Looking back over the past few years, it was a bit heartbreaking.

Sister Yang looked through each room.

Looking at Yan Xiang’s room. “Really clean.”

Then she looked at Qiao Wei and Yan Lei’s room and asked, “Why is the wardrobe placed here?”

Qiao Wei said, “We moved it when we were painting the walls. It was airing out yesterday. Today it’s dry, so when Yan Lei comes back, I’ll ask him to move it back.”

Sister Yang said, “I’ll move it for you.”

The wardrobe was made of solid wood and filled with stuff. Qiao Wei couldn’t push it by herself.

She hurriedly said, “No need, no need. It’s too hea—”

With a “creaking” sound of friction, Sister Yang exerted her strength and pushed the wardrobe back to its original position.

Qiao Wei: “—avy?”

Sister Yang clapped her hands. “What did you say?”

“…” Qiao Wei, “Nothing. Sister-in-law, come have some water.”

“I’m good, not thirsty.” Sister Yang waved her hand. “I wanted to ask you, how much paint did you use for this? Your walls look so fresh and new. The walls in my house have been ruined by these monkeys. Every time a guest comes, it’s embarrassing.”

With so many people in her family, she used to find such tasks troublesome. Seeing Qiao Wei doing it all alone now, she wondered why her own family couldn’t manage.

She felt lazy.

Actually, she wasn’t lazy at all; Sister Yang had always been particularly efficient and capable. But with so many people in the family, there were too many chores to do, and the walls weren’t a priority.

But now, with Lin Xixi’s help, Sister Yang felt greatly liberated.

With time and energy, naturally, she had the inclination.

Just as Old Zhao got a raise recently and was in a good mood, she felt like doing something.

Qiao Wei was now an expert at painting walls.

She estimated the approximate amount of paint needed for Sister Yang and wrote it down for her.

Sister Yang took the paper and hurriedly went back.

Qiao Wei took the freshly picked vegetables to a cool place in the kitchen.

The vegetables she grew herself were really tender and fresh. As for the ones Yan Lei grew, who knew when they’d grow to be edible? Just thinking about it, when it came time to cook, she could just go to the yard, pick a couple of vegetables, wash them, and toss them in the pot to stir-fry.

This was the dream life of many 996 office workers in big cities.

Yan Lei came back and was surprised to see the wardrobe back in its original position. “Did you move it back?”

“Impossible,” Qiao Wei said, “Sister-in-law Zhao came over and moved it.”

She continued, “I told her not to, it’s heavy. But before I could finish saying ‘heavy,’ she just did it like this…”

Qiao Wei demonstrated with one leg forward and one leg back, pushing her hands forward in a gesture, “like this!”

“And she pushed the wardrobe back.”

“I was stunned!”

Yan Lei laughed heartily.

He felt Qiao Wei was really inexperienced in this regard. “What’s so special? In the countryside, women are like this.”

In rural areas, when choosing a daughter-in-law, mothers prefer those who are strong and capable, with round buttocks and sturdy waists. Why? Because they have strength and can work!

So when he decided to marry Qiao Wei, his comrades all advised against it.

Yan Lei said, “Sister-in-law Zhao is not weaker than men. Women like her are common in the countryside. My mother… Uh, uh, what are we having for dinner tonight?”

Feeling cheerful, the words “my mother” slipped out, luckily he caught himself and changed the subject in time.

Qiao Wei remained composed, pretending not to hear, and smiled, “Sister-in-law Zhao brought some vegetables for me. The ones she grew herself are fresher than the ones from the market. I’ll go stir-fry them.”

She left.

Yan Lei sighed.

He had been too relaxed in front of her lately, speaking without thinking.

She didn’t like hearing about his family and their affairs.

Yan Lei sighed again.

During dinner, Qiao Wei glanced at Yan Lei, who was devouring his food.

She thought of the young man described by Sister Yang, preparing for marriage when they first moved in here.

He was probably in his early twenties a few years ago. The original owner was around seventeen or eighteen.

They were both so young.

They each had their own expectations for the future, but they weren’t on the same path.

Qiao Wei sighed softly.

Yan Lei looked up. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Qiao Wei said, handing him some meat, “Eat more.”

Her eyes were tender and loving.

Yan Lei chewed his food, unable to taste it, only savoring the warmth in her gaze.

He felt something trembling deep inside.

What’s going on?

Could he be sick? Why did he always feel strange lately when he looked at his wife?

Something just didn’t feel right.

Yan Lei didn’t have high expectations for tonight either. Because as per Qiao Wei’s request, they were going to sleep in Yan Xiang’s room again tonight.

Sure enough, they spent the night in Yan Xiang’s room.

“Mom sleeps on this side, dad sleeps on this side,” Yan Xiang arranged it nicely, positioning himself in the middle… slightly closer to mom and a little further from dad.

In the dim darkness, Yan Lei glanced at Qiao Wei, who was comforting their son.

Sighing, he closed his eyes in boredom.

After a while, Yan Xiang’s breathing became steady, indicating that he had fallen asleep. Yan Lei heard some rustling, indicating that Qiao Wei was also getting ready to sleep.

He should sleep too.

But suddenly, his lips were lightly pecked.

Yan Lei opened his eyes in surprise.

Qiao Wei pressed a finger to his lips. “Shh…”

She whispered, “Finally fell asleep…”

Yan Lei blinked, looking at their son.

Qiao Wei smiled slightly, gently caressing the man’s lips with her fingertip.

A fiery heat ignited deep within his body.

Yan Lei bit her finger lightly, like a wolf, but he restrained himself, not daring to move recklessly because of their child.

In the darkness, Qiao Wei chuckled softly, leaning down to press her lips against his.

…

Yan Xiang was awakened by a familiar sound.

He rolled over, trying to open his eyes.

A familiar hand covered his eyes, while another, much smaller hand, gently patted him, emitting a soft hum.

It was a familiar voice and melody. Yan Xiang relaxed and drifted back into slumber.

Was it the mouse making noise all this time? Strange.

Yan Xiang fell into a deep sleep again…

Splash, Yan Lei splashed water on his face.

He wiped the water droplets with a towel, lifted his eyes, and saw the pink dawn on the edge of the courtyard wall.

The sun appeared, casting a pale golden light.

It was Sunday, no need to go to work, feeling refreshed.

Recalling last night, Yan Lei now felt like he could understand the feeling of ancient emperors.

There would be a moment when even the most wise and valiant man would feel that for her, he could break all principles and overturn all conventions.

There would be a moment when holding her waist, he would feel that dying at this moment would be worth it.

Yan Lei slapped his face lightly, put on his military cap under the eaves, and glanced at the window of the eastern room.

There was still a partition inside, of course, nothing could be seen.

Yan Lei left.

Qiao Wei woke up to a delightful fragrance.

She was so tired.

Although it was true that she had taken the initiative with Yan Lei last night, he was too wild.

It exhausted her.

What was that delicious smell? Though very sleepy, Qiao Wei wanted to continue sleeping, but her rumbling stomach woke her up.

She walked out of the house with sleepy eyes and saw Yan Xiang looking disappointed.

“Mom,” he said distressed, “our creations got burnt.”

Qiao Wei exclaimed, “What?”

Yan Lei heard the commotion and came out of the kitchen, laughing, “Did you tell him they could be burned? Your clay creations.”

Qiao Wei suddenly remembered, “Those got burned?”

Last Wednesday afternoon after the rain, she and Yan Xiang had played with clay and made some things. She casually mentioned to Yan Xiang how to make pottery.

Yan Xiang expressed his desire to turn these “creations” into pottery. Qiao Wei said they needed to dry for a few days before firing.

Yan Xiang had been waiting until today, thinking they were dry enough. Qiao Wei hadn’t woken up yet, but Yan Lei had started a fire, so Yan Xiang asked dad to help him put the creations in the stove to fire them.

As a result, they didn’t need to burn for very long, and before Qiao Wei woke up, all of them cracked open.

Qiao Wei understood and smiled.

“It’s okay if they crack,” she said. “What matters is that Xiang Xiang learned the process of firing pottery.”

“Why did they crack? Because we were just playing around, not actually making pottery.”

“Real pottery uses different clay, not just randomly digging up mud from the yard like us. Real pottery requires clay with good adhesive properties, and it needs to be kneaded repeatedly, like kneading dough. The finer you knead it, the less likely it is to crack during firing.”

Yan Xiang sighed, “Oh, I see.”

Qiao Wei smiled and ruffled his hair, “We were just playing around, it’s okay. Learning the process is what matters. So, what’s that delicious smell?”

Her hair was still messy, sniffing the air like a little animal searching for food.

Yan Lei chuckled, “It’s stewed chicken.”

Qiao Wei was both surprised and delighted, “Did you buy chicken?”

“I did,” Yan Lei replied, a little puzzled. “Why don’t you usually buy it?”

“Killing chickens involves a lot of blood, so I don’t want to buy them,” Qiao Wei explained.

It wasn’t so much about hypocrisy; Qiao Wei could see animals and even eat them. But you couldn’t kill the little animal in front of her just because she wanted to eat it.

Okay, maybe it was a bit hypocritical.

Anyway, live chickens were available at the morning market, Qiao Wei later found out, they could be bought and slaughtered on the spot.

Every time she wanted to buy one, she saw those lively chickens and backed off.

Sigh.

Yan Lei shook his head with a smile, “There’s no killing chickens without blood. When you’re killing them, you just keep your distance.”

“It smells so good, can we eat now?”

“Not yet,” Yan Lei said. “It’s prepared for lunch; it needs to stew over a low heat all morning. You should wash your face and have breakfast first.”

Qiao Wei went to the hand pump.

Yan Xiang ran over to fetch a dipper and helped her scoop water to wash her face—Mom liked to use running water and didn’t like using a basin.

The cool underground water splashed onto her face, and Qiao Wei felt refreshed.