Chapter 45 "Move It Yourself!"

Chapter 45 "Move It Yourself!"

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye it's late spring and early summer. Thick cotton clothes and sweaters are taken off, and the earth is lush and green.

Li Yue has been working at the factory for almost two months and has recently been learning how to apply glaze.

After firing, the clay blank becomes a bisque, which is still a semi-finished product. It needs to be glazed and then fired a second time. There are usually three ways to glaze: brushing, spraying, and dipping.

The bowls that Li Yue has in her hands now are civilian bowls made by machine molds. After they are fired, they are put on the market. When glazing, they are mostly dipped.

Even with glazing, there's a bit of skill involved. The inside of the bowl is coated with a transparent glaze, while the outside is to be coated with a celadon glaze. So, Li Yue carefully held the bowl with glazing tongs, immersing the outer edge of the bowl in the celadon glaze liquid, making sure the glaze didn't overflow the rim and stain the inside.

Wang Yuanshan said her hands were quite steady; she rarely made a mistake while handling so many bowls. Unlike some people, whose hands shake easily.

She said she had practiced a lot and that it was just a matter of practice makes perfect.

At lunchtime, when the lid of the lunchbox was lifted, Sister Li came over to see what delicious food she had brought. Li Yue said she had brought stir-fried wood ear mushrooms with pork and stir-fried lettuce.

I have to praise Ling Jianwei; his cooking skills are getting better and better. Li Yue now basically travels to and from work by herself, and when she gets home from work, he has already prepared the meal and even saved a portion of the food for her to take the next day.

Sister Li often teases her: "You have such a good life, but you insist on coming here to suffer. The factory is not doing well, the wages are not high, and you can barely keep the business afloat each month."

However, after Li Yue came in, she also discovered a problem: the factory often received visiting leaders and showed them the restored Ru porcelain.

Besides the restored bean-green glazed bottle, the restoration team recently fired a batch of sky-blue Ru porcelain vases. When they came out of the kiln and the glaze crackled, Li Yue went to listen to the sound of the glaze breaking. Admittedly, the sound was beautiful, like heavenly music, but she could tell at a glance that the craftsmanship was not comparable to that of ancient Ru porcelain.

However, factory director Lin Shumin was very good at maneuvering. He specially invited leaders from the county's relevant departments to come and visit the factory's achievements, praising them to the skies. After a series of maneuvers, Director Lin was named a provincial model worker.

Sister Li said, "Our factory manager is going to the provincial capital to attend a meeting and receive an award on Labor Day. That's good, it'll bring back more orders for our factory."

Indeed, it was true that his becoming a model worker was beneficial to the factory. Once the reputation of the Ru porcelain produced by the factory was established, there would be no worry about sales, and the workers would be able to receive their wages on a monthly basis.

As they were chatting and getting ready to wash their lunchboxes, Sister Li said, "Deputy Factory Director Lin is here."

Deputy Factory Director Lin is the son of Factory Director Lin. His name is Lin Chunlai, and he is 24 years old this year. He is mainly responsible for market sales, often travels on business, and works mostly at the county's stores.

Li Yue had only been working at the factory for a short time when she happened to see him while screening clay. After work that day, Li Yue walked with Sister Li, who said mysteriously, "Little Li, Deputy Factory Director Lin came over today to inquire about you."

"Huh? What do you want to know about me?"

"Oh, he just wanted to know if you had a boyfriend. I told him I did, and she was a family member introduced by the military." Sister Li, who loves gossip, said with a smile, "He seemed a little disappointed after hearing that."

Li Yue listened to this and then let it go, without taking it to heart.

Now, Lin Chunlai walked up to Li Yue, looked at her, and said, "Xiao Li, have you finished eating?"

Li Yue nodded: "I just finished eating."

"Perfect timing, I have something to ask you." He scratched his head, as if he was in a dilemma. "Come with me for a moment."

Li Yue's work had almost no connection with Lin Chunlai, so his sudden summons even piqued the curiosity of Sister Li. Li Yue was also completely bewildered...

Stepping outside the factory, the sun was shining brightly, but Lin Chunlai still looked somewhat embarrassed.

Li Yue asked first, "Deputy Factory Director Lin, is there something important you need to see me about?"

He lit a cigarette before speaking: "So, do you live in the family compound of the 627th Regiment?"

"Yes, what's wrong?" Li Yue looked at him with wide eyes.

"Is there a woman named Zhong Xuelian in your residential compound?"

Zhong Xuelian, the awful sister-in-law?! Li Yue quickly replied, "Yes, Deputy Factory Director, do you know her?"

“Someone introduced us yesterday.”

Li Yue: "Oh."

I never expected them to go on a blind date.

"And then?" Li Yue asked, her voice tinged with gossip.

"Do you know her?" Lin Chunlai asked.

Li Yue was stunned for a moment.

She didn't want to get involved in this kind of thing. If she told him some of the horrible rumors about her sister-in-law, and Zhong Xuelian took a liking to him again, it might cause some misunderstanding and prevent them from getting together... Wouldn't she be the one to blame?

In short, Li Yue said calmly, "I have basically no contact with her. I just arrived at the family compound not long ago. She has to go to work every day, and our houses are several buildings apart."

Lin Chunlai nodded: "I see. I thought you were quite familiar with her."

"No, I'm not familiar with it at all," Li Yue denied.

"Okay, it's alright, thank you."

After washing her lunchbox and returning to the office, Sister Li asked with a smile, "Xiao Li, what did the deputy factory director ask you to do just now?"

Li Yue smiled and said, "It's nothing. He asked me if I knew someone. I wasn't very familiar with him, so I didn't say much."

Sister Li pressed for details: "Which person?"

"People from the family compound." Li Yue put down her lunchbox and changed the subject, "Tomorrow's the May Day holiday, Sister Li, what are you planning to do?"

"What else can I do? I can't even finish all the housework at home. I can wash all the thick winter clothes."

Li Yue nodded: "Yes, that reminded me, I also need to wash some clothes."

During dinner, Li Yue told Ling Jianwei about it.

Ling Jianwei put some food in her bowl: "That's a very appropriate answer. Since he asked you, he must be interested in learning about the other party. If he didn't get any useful information from you, he'll naturally ask someone else. A salesperson wouldn't be so foolish."

Li Yue: "That's true."

Looking at this kind and innocent person, Ling Jianwei asked, "Are you afraid that you'll affect their relationship?"

Li Yue said, "No, what role can I play?"

"Then why do you look a little worried?"

Li Yue couldn't quite put her finger on it. Perhaps it was because her eccentric sister-in-law was an important character in the book, and she didn't know if her sister-in-law's storyline would unfold as the author had planned, or if it had already changed because of her transmigration.

But that wasn't something she needed to worry about, so she smiled at Ling Jianwei and said, "Tomorrow's your day off. Are you on duty?"

"Oh, are you going?"

"I want to do the laundry at home."

"..."

Since starting work, Li Yue's days have been very fulfilling. After dinner, she does some cleaning and washing up, and then it's almost time for bed.

Tonight is unusual; there's a power outage.

Electricity was extremely unstable in those days, and power outages were commonplace. As a result, every household kept candles, kerosene lamps, and household appliances such as flashlights.

Ling Jianwei lit a few more candles, and in the flickering candlelight, he saw her fair and jade-like skin, which was quite charming.

The weather finally warmed up, and for the first time, he picked her up from the bed and carried her around the room with candles lit.

Li Yue's arms were wrapped around his neck, her legs hooked around his waist, and sweat dripped down her face. She felt a strong sense of weightlessness, as if she were about to fall, and could only cling tightly to his neck.

He stopped as he walked, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and said with a light laugh, "I'm the one who did the hard work, but you look the one who's more tired."

Li Yue rested her chin on his shoulder: "It's because the room is hot."

They closed all the doors and windows tightly, and there was a stove inside.

Ling Jianwei: "Oh, then I'll let you cool off."

Li Yue: "?"

The next instant, her back was pressed against the wall. The wall was only painted with simple white lime, and there were some small bumps and particles. As soon as her back touched it, she felt it was hard and cold. On the other hand, he was burning hot in front of her. Stimulated by these multiple sensations, Li Yue hugged him even tighter.

The man chuckled softly: "Don't you like it cool?"

Li Yue twisted her body in frustration.

"Looks like you still prefer me." The man's lips curled into a smile.

Li Yue: "..."

It was like a reward, yet also like a punishment; he pressed her shoulders down, still keeping her back against the wall.

This time, she wasn't as gentle as before. Li Yue said in a tearful voice, "You're so fierce."

He let out a soft "ah," sealed her lips with his, and teased her with his tongue.

Occasionally, you have to be a little fierce.

Later, when I helped her take a bath, I couldn't help but laugh when I saw the white lime powder stuck to her back.

Li Yue pinched him, but he didn't get angry. He wrapped her up and carried her back to bed.

The power was still out, and the candles in the living room had been blown out, leaving only one lit candle in the room.

In the dim candlelight, the two were covered with a thin blanket.

Li Yue nestled in his arms and suddenly asked, "Ling Jianwei, if you hadn't met me, would you have accepted your family's arrangements?"

He said, "No, I have to find someone I like."

"You'll eventually meet someone you like."

He laughed: "I've discovered that my wife likes to make assumptions. But in my opinion, there are no possibilities. I met you in this life, I've decided on you, and it can only be you."

Li Yue paused for a moment, then buried her face in his arms.

She didn't know why she asked these questions; perhaps she had a vague feeling that her sister-in-law was like a time bomb, and that she might appear around her again in the future.

Ling Jianwei took her hand and played with her fingers: "But you, one minute you said you didn't plan to get married so early, the next you rejected me, and then you suddenly came back. I feel a little..." He paused, "...I always feel like one day you'll leave me again."

Li Yue suddenly looked up at him in the dim light: "Leave you? Why? Where to? I'm not leaving."

The man's deep eyes looked back at the woman whose beauty made his heart flutter. Under the lamplight, she possessed an even more hazy beauty. He had never asked such a question before, but this time, he especially wanted to know: "Moon, tell me the truth, do you like me?"

Li Yue nodded without hesitation: "Yes, of course, of course I like it, otherwise I wouldn't have come back to you."

He held her in his arms, his large hand stroking her smooth back: "What do you like about me?"

Li Yue: "He's handsome."

"Anything else?"

"A good person."

"How is it good?"

"It means treating me to good food, giving me advice, and standing by my side."

That's all?

"She can also do laundry, cook, and do housework, and she will take care of me when I am sick."

He stroked her head, clearly dissatisfied: "Any man could do what you're saying, and I believe all the men who pursued you could do it."

“But they’re not as good-looking as you,” Li Yue blurted out. She sensed something different about this man tonight, as if he were calculating something. “They’re not as tall as you, their features aren’t as handsome, and their demeanor isn’t as refined as yours…”

Ling Jianwei: "Oh, so you mean you're attracted to my figure and looks?"

Li Yue: "..."

"But I'll get old, and the wind and sun will wrinkle my face. Besides, I'm already seven years older than you. What will you do when you think I'm not handsome anymore? Find someone younger and more handsome?"

Li Yue felt that this man was really arguing with her. She didn't want to prove herself anymore, so she simply said, "You're right, you're getting old, so I'll find someone younger."

With his arm gripped, the man gritted his teeth and said, "You dare."

"You're the one who led me to find it." Li Yue said disdainfully, wondering what was wrong with him tonight. "Then I'll just have to do as you say."

With one arm encircling her slender waist, Li Yue was lifted up and sat on his lap.

The man's strong body lay flat on the bed, his head resting on a pillow as he looked at her, his eyes burning with desire, his voice clear and cold:

"Do it yourself!"