Chapter 60

“Oh, siblings are here.”

Captain Zhao, responsible for painting the main hall, saw Qiao Wei first. He quickly came out, wiped his hands on his pants, and took the bowl, “What’s this? Smells delicious.”

“It’s chicken stewed at home. Old Yan asked me to bring a bowl for you to taste.” Qiao Wei glanced around, everyone was busy working, “What’s this? Not cooking lunch today?”

Captain Zhao leaned in to smell the aroma of the chicken soup and said, “It’s all because of your sister-in-law. She’s impatient. I suggested we take it slow and paint one room at a time, but she insisted that with so many people in the family, we could finish in a day.”

“A bustling family is just like this.” Qiao Wei smiled.

Captain Zhao was very pleased.

Sister Yang came out and said, “What are you doing? Trying to spoil my reputation behind my back?”

Captain Zhao hurriedly said, “Praising you.”

Qiao Wei asked, “Can you finish it today?”

Sister Yang said, “Almost.”

She took the bowl of chicken and said, “You hurry up and get to work.”

Captain Zhao went back to work.

Sister Yang said to Qiao Wei again, “Wait here.”

She went into the kitchen, poured the chicken and chicken soup into her own bowl, scooped up some water to rinse out Qiao Wei’s bowl, and then rolled up several pancakes, folded them neatly, wrapped them in a dried lotus leaf, and returned the empty bowl to Qiao Wei. “These were just baked this morning by Xixi. You take them back.”

Lin Xixi’s pancakes had already gained some fame. Everyone knew that her pancakes were delicious.

Qiao Wei only knows how to steam rice, at most she can make a simple porridge. She has tried making pancakes before, but they didn’t turn out delicious.

She happily took the pancakes and said, “I’ll have to learn from you guys another day how to make them so fragrant.”

Holding the empty bowl and carrying the pancakes, she went back.

Sister Yang wiped her hands on her apron and shouted back into the house, “Gangzi, Huazi, go to the main yard and pick some vegetables. We’re not cooking lunch today. Move quickly, let’s finish painting today.”

She and Captain Zhao painted the main hall together.

Captain Zhao sighed and said, “I always thought Xiao Qiao wasn’t very good at speaking. I was wrong.”

Once was at Captain Pan’s place, speaking confidently and clearly.

Just now, her sweet words were even more pleasing.

Completely different from what he remembered.

Sister Yang: “Indeed.”

I don’t know why, even though both use heat to cook ingredients from raw to cooked, but the meat stewed in a clay pot over a wood fire is especially fragrant.

Yan Lei was about to serve the pancakes when Qiao Wei brought back big ones from Captain Zhao’s house.

Yan Lei was happy, “Perfect!”

Lin Xixi’s pancakes were really amazing.

The family of three, accompanied by the tenderly cooked vegetables in the chicken soup, praised them endlessly.

Yan Lei told Yan Xiang, “Don’t sleep too late after your nap, I’ll take you to the river to play later.”

Yan Xiang’s cheeks puffed up, his eyes brightened, “Can we go in the river?”

Yan Xiang is super obedient. Every time he goes to the river with his mom, if his mom says he can’t go in the river, he obediently just picks up rocks in the shallows.

Yan Lei said, “Yes! I’ll teach you how to swim.”

Qiao Wei took a bite of the pancake and glanced at him.

Yan Lei said, “Don’t worry.”

He continued, “The place where we live has a river and a pond. It’s better if the child learns to swim early, then I can relax.”

Qiao Wei said, “He’s too young.”

“I’ll take care of him. Don’t worry.” Yan Lei said, “He can’t be pampered too much. I can’t let him be a little master for real.”

In this era, children are raised with a loose rein. Like Junjun, even though he’s only a year and a half older than Yan Xiang, no one watches over him anymore, and he runs out to play by himself. If he gets hungry, he’ll come home to find something to eat.

Everyone thinks it’s normal.

Yan Xiang is raised much more delicately, and looks a bit out of place among the other kids who run around like little monkeys.

“I’ll go too,” Qiao Wei said.

She still wasn’t at ease and had to keep an eye on him.

Yan Lei smiled and shook his head.

After lunch, Yan Xiang went back to his room to sleep, Yan Lei comforted him, and when he came out, he saw Qiao Wei squatting in front of the low cabinet in the living room.

“What are you doing?” He bent down to look.

Qiao Wei lifted the empty glass bottle in her hand and shook it.

They had bought a lot of dried fruits as snacks during the fair, and they hadn’t finished eating them yet. Qiao Wei had put them all in a lunch box: “We’re going to the river in the afternoon, so I brought some snacks. Ah——”

Before she could finish, her body was lifted up from her waist and lifted up into the air.

Qiao Wei struggled for a moment.

“Shh.” Yan Lei covered her mouth and lowered his voice, “The child just fell asleep.”

Qiao Wei bit his neck as he was holding her.

Yan Lei tossed her up, and with a quick movement, he caught her in a horizontal embrace.

“Don’t bite me.” He chuckled, “Several people have asked me what happened to my neck. If you leave teeth marks, I won’t be able to come up with an excuse.”

Qiao Wei almost laughed out loud.

Yan Lei carried her into the western room and kicked the door closed with his foot…

Children who sleep well can grow up quickly, that’s what mom says.

Yan Xiang takes his nap seriously every day. When he wakes up, he feels a little hot.

Slipping off the bed, stepping off the stool onto the ground, he goes to the courtyard, where Mom and Dad are already awake from their nap.

They both look like they slept well, Mom’s face is particularly beautiful.

Yan Xiang really likes the atmosphere at home now.

He remembers that not too long ago, the atmosphere at home wasn’t this relaxed, there was always a feeling that made him not want to talk, especially when both Mom and Dad were at home.

He hopes that the atmosphere at home will always be like this in the future.

Dad often looks at Mom no matter what he’s doing. Mom also often looks at Dad.

And then the two of them laugh together.

Although Yan Xiang doesn’t know what Mom and Dad are laughing about, he happily laughs along with them.

“Dad, let’s go.” Yan Xiang is full of energy.

Yan Lei stood up and said, “I’m just waiting for you to wake up. Let’s go!”

Qiao Wei wore her comfortable linen clothes and a pair of thousand-layered cloth shoes. She didn’t wear socks, and her snow-white heels pressed against the back of the shoes, relaxed and casual.

She also carried the woven basket she usually takes to the market and put on her straw hat, reminding the father and son, “Bring the water flask.”

There are three military water flasks at home, all filled.

Yan Xiang touched it and was pleasantly surprised, “It’s so cool.”

Filled with cold boiled water in advance and soaked in the water bucket for the duration of their nap, it was chilled by the groundwater.

Qiao Wei also asked Yan Lei, “Aren’t you going to bring an umbrella?”

The sun is still very strong.

Yan Lei was speechless, “Why would a grown man need an umbrella?”

Alright.

Yan Lei went over and lifted the small bamboo chair in the house and slung it over his shoulder.

Yan Xiang was curious, “Dad, what are you carrying this for?”

“For Mom to sit on.”

Qiao Wei originally suggested bringing a small stool.

Yan Lei thought that sitting on it for a long time would strain her back. She had already worked hard at noon and couldn’t let her suffer again.

A small bamboo chair is nothing to him in terms of weight.

“Carrying loads during cross-country training is much heavier than this.” He didn’t care at all.

So the family of three set off.

Qiao Wei was quite surprised when they reached the riverbank, there were so many people.

Indeed, near the riverbank, you can feel that the air temperature has dropped a few degrees. People in the town like to come here to cool off.

But usually there aren’t so many people. Today is Sunday, no school, and the boys all come to the river to play like crazy. Some stretches of the river are like dumplings.

Under the sparsely shaded trees, there are also some old ladies gathering together to fan themselves and chat, and do needlework.

“Let’s find a place with fewer people.” Qiao Wei instructed Yan Lei, “Stay away from those half-grown kids.”

For a little guy like Yan Xiang, those half-grown kids are like time bombs, dangerous presences.

Yan Lei said, “I’m here, don’t worry.”

They found a slightly more remote spot.

Yan Lei placed the small bamboo chair under the shade of a tree by the riverbank. “You just stay here and watch us.”

He started taking off his clothes directly—at home, he already had his swim trunks on.

Wearing swim trunks was deliberate, because being in the military, he knew that you should wear swim trunks when going into the river. They also had the means to buy swim trunks from the military service society.

In reality, the men from the town go into the river completely naked.

The reason why Yan Lei found a slightly more remote spot was also because in crowded places, there were some teenagers mixed in with the children, all of them naked.

Although those few boys might only be fifteen or sixteen years old, at this age in the countryside, they could already get married and have children.

He didn’t want his wife to see other guys’ things.

Yan Lei took off all his clothes and neatly folded them on top of his shoes.

As he raised his head, Qiao Wei was looking at him, her gaze moving between his waist and abdomen.

Yan Lei smirked, revealing a tacit smile between the two of them.

Qiao Wei smiled.

Under the sunlight, everything was clear. Each muscle was full and firm.

She remembered the hot and humid afternoons, his sweaty appearance.

In the next moment, Yan Lei quickly undressed Yan Xiang, leaving him completely naked.

Qiao Wei covered her face. “Leave him with his underwear.”

“It’s fine. Have you seen any other kid wearing underwear when they go into the river?”

He carried Yan Xiang and went into the water.

Qiao Wei watched for a while, seeing that Yan Lei was being very cautious, not going to deep places, just playing with Yan Xiang in the shallower areas.

Teaching him to hold his breath, teaching him to swim.

Qiao Wei felt relieved.

She took out a mosquito coil from the woven basket and lit it next to the small bamboo chair.

Taking out her own water flask, she unscrewed it and took a sip. It was refreshing and comfortable to drink.

After putting down the water flask, she took out a lunchbox, opened the lid and placed it on her lap, took out a piece of dried apple and took a bite.

The sky was very blue, and the sun seemed to have dried up all the clouds, not a single cloud could be seen in the vast sky.

But by the riverbank, there was a gentle breeze, carrying the scent of water.

Qiao Wei sat under the shade of the tree, crossed her legs, fanned herself with the palm leaf fan, chewed on the dried fruit, and wiggled her toes in her shoes.

Comfortable.

Watching the father and son having fun in the river, suddenly an old lady in a blue cloth coat moved a stool and sat down next to her.

Qiao Wei: “…”

People at this time… really have no sense of boundaries.

The old lady was completely unaware that she was sitting too close to someone else. She was looking at Qiao Wei because she had lit the mosquito coil, so she came over to benefit from it.

She even started chatting with Qiao Wei, “Girl, which family are you from? I don’t recognize you.”

From her accent, you could tell she was from the town.

Qiao Wei smiled, “I’m a military dependent.”

As soon as Qiao Wei spoke, her accent changed, and the old lady glanced at her, somewhat surprised. “Are you from the city?”

She looked at Qiao Wei dressed in indigo dyed cloth, coincidentally, she was also wearing an indigo dyed top today with original color cloth pants. She had thought Qiao Wei was a local.

Young military dependents liked wearing dobby cloth.

“Yes, I’m from Lin City.”

“No wonder, you’re fair and pretty.”

Praise from others makes people happy. Qiao Wei grabbed a handful of dried fruit and handed it over. “Auntie, have some of this.”

The old lady smiled and put down her sewing, taking it. “How can I accept this?”

This military dependent is handsome and approachable, really likable.

But Qiao Wei was looking at the needlework on the old lady’s knee. “Auntie, can you make shoes?”

“Who doesn’t know how.”

“Hehehe, I don’t know how.”

“When we were young, if we couldn’t make shoes or do needlework, we couldn’t get married. We had to learn. Now it’s different, young people all go to the factory to work, and the shoes are all made by machines. Whether you can make shoes or not doesn’t matter.”

The old lady was also a wise and articulate person.

Qiao Wei picked up the shoes that were half-done on her lap and examined them closely. The craftsmanship was really good, the stitching was very neat.

“Auntie, have you ever seen sandals that others wear?”

“I have, are you talking about the plastic ones? Military dependents love wearing those. You need industrial coupons for those. In my family, my son is the only one working in the factory. He is an apprentice, and his salary is only 14 yuan, with no industrial coupons.”

Industrial coupons are distributed according to salary, with one coupon for every 20 yuan of salary.

“But fortunately, the factory gives out some things.” The old lady said while eating, “Nowadays, you must work in the factory, it’s good to work in the factory. When you become a formal employee, your salary will increase.”

“Auntie.” Qiao Wei brought the conversation back to shoes. “Can you cut a shoe upper according to the style of sandals and make a pair of cloth shoes? Can you do that?”

“Why couldn’t I? It’s just a half shoe upper, it’s easier than sewing a full shoe.”

As long as it can be done, that’s all Qiao Wei needs.

“I already have the soles, I bought them. I just need someone to sew the shoe uppers and the laces for me.” Although the people under the shade of the trees were quite far from here, Qiao Wei still lowered her voice sneakily, “Auntie, what do you need? What can I offer you in exchange for sewing a shoe upper for me?”

The old lady also became sneaky, stretching her neck to look around, then lowering her voice, “Just sew a half shoe upper and attach the laces?”

Qiao Wei held up her half-finished shoe to illustrate, “Just like this, like this, here’s how it’s done, and like this. Can you do it?”

“I can do it, I can do it. In our alley, my needlework is second to none, no one dares to claim first place. You’ve found the right person.”

“What do you need?” Qiao Wei asked.

The old lady tried to hold up three fingers, hesitated for a moment, then retracted one, and finally held up two fingers in a V shape.

Qiao Wei: “?”

“Flour.” The old lady said, “I want two catties of flour.”

One yuan can buy six catties of flour. But white flour is fine grain, and under planned economy, there are proportions for coarse and fine grains.

But this is not a problem for cadre families.

Qiao Wei agreed immediately, “Okay!”