The Lin Family’s Generations

The Lin family hadn’t had a girl for three generations.

When Lin’s mother was pregnant with the original character, Lin’s grandmother noticed that her daughter-in-law’s belly was very pointed and was convinced it would be a girl, so she made sure to supplement her daughter-in-law’s nutrition frequently.

Lin’s mother, however, was determined to eat well.

It wasn’t that she was trying to nourish the baby; rather, people of that era wouldn’t refuse good food if they had access to it, especially during pregnancy.

As a result, when Lin’s mother gave birth to the original character, she encountered complications.

This was a painful lesson for Lin’s mother.

Yu Xiuyao listened and didn’t know what to say.

However, she felt that Lu Cheng’s wife was quite straightforward.

She was fair-skinned, chubby, and looked well cared for, clearly pampered by her family.

Yu Xiuyao had expected someone like her to be delicate, but instead, she turned out to be quite forthright.

Yu Xiuyao appreciated this kind of open-minded personality.

After Yu Xiuyao left, Lin Qingqing and Lu Haici entered the courtyard.

There were two types of family housing in the military, one was a long corridor style, and the other was independent bungalows with small courtyards.

Since Lu Cheng held the rank of deputy regiment commander, he had managed to secure an independent courtyard, which could also be attributed to the availability of such housing at the time he applied.

The family houses were constructed quite well, especially for that era.

Firstly, the buildings were made of blue bricks, topped with black tiles, and the interiors were painted white.

The courtyard was surrounded by a one-meter-high wall, unlike modern houses, where neighbors often had much taller walls.

A cement path led from the courtyard gate to the house, while the other areas were dirt, suitable for planting vegetables.

The courtyard seemed spacious, about 30 square meters.

Now, regarding the house: it had a sunken design, with a small room protruding on each side; the kitchen was on the right, while the left side was empty for personal use.

However, the left side of the courtyard housed a bathroom and a utility room.

The sunken part had a main entrance about two meters wide, similar to a hall door.

Inside was a rectangular hall, four meters wide and five meters long, which felt quite large.

On either side of the hall were two rooms, corresponding to the two small protruding rooms.

Both were the same size, three meters wide and five meters long, totaling 15 square meters each.

The windows of these two rooms faced the front and lined up with the hall’s main door.

Overall, it comprised three main rooms, plus two smaller ones extending outward.

The courtyard felt empty; it looked just as it did on the original character’s first day with the military.

Entering the hall, there was still a dusty smell lingering inside.

Lu Cheng had been on a month-long leave before being assigned to his mission.

It had been a month since anyone had lived in this house because it was at his aunt’s house, resulting in a significant accumulation of dust.

The original owner had come with the military half a month ago, but due to Lu Cheng being urgently dispatched on a mission, the original owner hadn’t touched a broom or cloth in that time.

Lu Haici, being just a five-year-old, naturally didn’t know how to clean every nook and cranny; he only knew how to wash dishes and wipe tables.

This meant the house had accumulated a month and a half’s worth of dust.

The original owner stayed in Lu Cheng’s room, which was on the right side of the hall.

In fact, before the original owner arrived, both Lu Cheng and Lu Haici had been sleeping in this room.

After the original owner came, she naturally took Lu Cheng’s room, while Lu Haici was sent to another room that had been empty for a while.

But that room seemed to have nothing in it.

Thinking of this, Lin Qingqing went to take a look at that room.

On the floor was Lu Haici’s own blanket.

However, since he was still small, he used half of it as a mat and covered himself with the other half.

Other than that, there was nothing else.

The empty room of about 15 square meters only had a mat of less than 2 square meters.

At that moment, Lin Qingqing felt a bit heartbroken.

“Mom?” Lu Haici, being a little shadow, followed wherever his mom went.

Seeing her standing at his room’s door, he looked a bit puzzled.

Lin Qingqing sighed, “Little Haici, would you like to sleep with me tonight?”

Lu Haici was a bit confused: “But didn’t Mom say I’ve grown up and should sleep by myself?”

Lin Qingqing recalled that on the first day she moved into the family housing, the original owner had occupied Lu Cheng and Lu Haici’s room.

Lu Haici thought it was because the original owner wanted to sleep with him, so after dinner, he washed his face, brushed his teeth, and climbed into bed.

In the end, the original owner angrily sent him to another room, saying, “You’re five years old now; you’re grown up and need to learn to sleep by yourself.”

Thinking for a moment, Lin Qingqing found a reason: “But I’m afraid that if I get sick again, no one will take care of me. I’ll feel more at ease if Little Haici sleeps with me.”

Children have weak bodies, and in May, the weather isn’t hot; especially in places close to mountains and the sea, the temperature can drop significantly at night.

How could such a small child sleep on the ground?

Once she made the bed… Lin Qingqing decided to move into that room, leaving the room she was staying in for Lu Haici and his dad.

Hearing that his mom needed him, Lu Haici felt a rush of joy, flipping and flopping, unable to contain himself.

His little mouth broke into a big smile: “Then I’ll sleep with Mom! I’ll take care of Mom.” It was so great; he could finally sleep with his mom.

If only… his mom could always be there.

He wanted to get better so he could take care of his mother and sleep with her.

But no, being sick was uncomfortable and meant he couldn’t play.

He didn’t want his mother to be sick all the time.

Then… suddenly, Lu Haici had an idea: if his mother was sick and needed his care, they could sleep together.

But what if he got sick and needed his mother’s care?

Wouldn’t that mean she could sleep with him too?

Lu Haici happily made a decision: once his mother got better, he would get sick afterward.

Even if he couldn’t play or eat delicious food, he was willing to be sick to sleep with his mother.

Because… little kids always sleep with their mothers.

“Thank you, little Haici. Let’s move the blankets over here.”

“Okay!” Lu Haici responded loudly as he tried to tidy up his little bedding.

But at only five years old, even a small blanket was much bigger than him; how could he tidy it up well?

He didn’t know how he managed to drag the blanket over in the first place.

Lin Qingqing helped by picking up Luhai Ci’s small blanket. “Come on.”

“Okay!” Lu Haici followed her, hopping and skipping; it was clear he was in a good mood.

However, upon entering the other room, Lin Qingqing was taken aback.

Was this a place for people to live or a doghouse?

She thought even when she was in college, she hadn’t let her dorm get this messy!

This room had more stuff.

There were three beds about a meter long, but two of them were pushed together to form a larger bed where the original character had slept before.

The other bed was pushed against the wall, piled with clothes belonging to the original character, Lu Cheng, and Lu Haici, along with some extra blankets.

From the original character’s memory, she knew the clothes here were clean, and since there was no wardrobe in this room, they were placed on the bed.

Aside from the three beds, there was also a table.

It was an old-fashioned desk, with a drawer on each side and a single-door cabinet below.

On the desk lay the original character’s clothes, while on the floor next to the desk were some books, clearly children’s books used by Lu Haici.

Lin Qingqing, having access to the original character’s memories, quickly realized that the clothes on the desk were the ones the original character had changed out of.

She hadn’t done laundry in half a month because… she had never washed her clothes in her entire life.

Thinking about this made Lin Qingqing’s head ache.

“Mom?” Seeing that his mother was standing still, holding the blanket, Luhai Ci became anxious.

Did that mean his mother didn’t want to sleep with him?

Lin Qingqing came back to her senses and placed the blanket on the bed.

This room was so messy that it was hardly livable.

However, the room still didn’t have any cockroaches because there were so few things in it. “Little Haici, we need to do a big cleaning, but I don’t know where to fetch water. Can you take me?”

“I’ll take Mom there,” Lu Haici said happily, as he loved being with his mom.

So, the two went to the kitchen to grab a water bucket.

When they entered the kitchen, Lin Qingqing was taken aback.

She had thought the kitchen would be empty, but it wasn’t.

Although there was dust, the kitchen still had a bit of a homely feel.

First, there was a double stove, but one side had an iron pot, while the other had a clay pot.

It was 1963, and the steel event had just occurred, making iron extremely precious and scarce.

However, the clay pot was excellent for making soup, boiling water, or cooking, while the iron pot was used for frying.

In addition, the kitchen had a cupboard table and two wooden buckets.

The table held cooking supplies like oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, bowls, and two thermos flasks.

Aside from these items, there was nothing else in the kitchen.

“Little Haici, who bought these things?” She was somewhat surprised to see the oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

In the original owner’s memories, Lu Cheng had mentioned the conditions of the military family housing and had said he couldn’t cook, so he and Lu Haici usually ate in the cafeteria.

He had also mentioned that if the original owner was willing, they could cook for themselves, but if not, they could always eat at the cafeteria.

So, how did these cooking supplies come to be here?

Lu Haici replied, “Aunt bought them. Sometimes, Aunt comes to visit us.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Qingqing understood the truth.

Looking at the wooden buckets, Lin Qingqing felt troubled.

The original body was very delicate and hadn’t even washed clothes, let alone done any other chores.

With such a fragile body, she certainly didn’t have the strength to fetch water. What to do?

Thinking of this, Lin Qingqing asked the little boy beside her, “Haici, do we have a small wooden bucket at home?”

“Yes!” Lu Haici trotted over to the storage room. “Mom, the small wooden bucket is here. It’s used for fetching water.”

The small wooden bucket was indeed tiny and had a long rope tied to it for pulling up from the well since the large bucket wouldn’t fit into the well.

Thus, the big and the small went to fetch water.