Their eyes met, and Fan Xi felt an inexplicable hostility in her eyes.

After everyone had left, Fan Yu asked Zhao Yilu, "Yilu, who was that young girl standing at the back with her braided hair and military uniform?"

Zhao Yilu looked bewildered and asked doubtfully, "Was the person you mentioned in the crowd just now? Aren't they all military wives?"

Seeing Zhao Yilu like this, Fan Xi understood that he must not have paid attention to the girl, so he did not ask any more questions and planned to make the bedding and let the two children take a nap first.

Just as Fan Xi coaxed the children to sleep, he heard some noise coming from the yard.

Fan Qi looked out in confusion, only to see several soldiers coming over to help push in a lot of blue bricks and red mud. Zhao Yilu was instructing them to unload the bricks at the corner of the wall.

Fan Xi walked up to Zhao Yilu, wanting to ask what he was going to do.

When the soldiers saw Fan Xi, they all looked embarrassed and grinned foolishly with their teeth bared.

Fan Yu smiled friendly and nodded at the soldiers, then asked Zhao Yilu, "Yilu, what are you doing pushing so many bricks and red clay around the yard?"

"I plan to build a small toilet and washing area in the corner of the west wall, so it will be more convenient in the future."

He had long noticed that Fan Xi liked cleanliness, and he had also heard Fan Xi talk about what life would be like forty years from now. So as early as yesterday when Fan Xi complained about the inconvenience of going to the toilet and taking a shower, he had thought about building a toilet and a washroom in the yard.

However, the sewer system was not well-developed in that era, and this place was a poor place, so they could only build dry toilets.

Fan Xi was very surprised to hear this. If possible, she really hoped to go to the toilet and take a shower at home.

So he immediately asked excitedly: "Can it be repaired? Where should the dirty water and feces be discharged?"

Zhao smiled and took Fan Xi's hand and walked to the open space on the west side of the house.

He explained, "Although our yard is the smallest and most remote of the family compound, we're fortunately on the westernmost side of the last row. You see, this area is completely unused land. I plan to dig a septic tank along the wall and cover it with hard stone slabs. That way, we only need to clean it out every once in a while."

"As for the bathroom, I'm thinking of building a small room next to the faucet in the west corner. I'd put a large black-painted iron bucket on the roof, run a pipe to bring water up to the roof, and then install a pipe on the bottom of the bucket that connects to the bathroom."

"The taps in the family compound don't always have water. They only run at noon and in the evening. That way we can store water in buckets. When the weather gets warmer, we can use the sun to heat the water in the buckets, and then we can take a shower."

"The drainage problem in the washroom will be easier to solve. I will bury a pipe underground, dig a little deeper at this place, and drain the dirty water underground." Zhao Yilu said while pointing to the direction to Fan Xi.

He explained it in great detail, and Fan Xi understood it immediately after listening. He couldn't help but admire the man in front of him even more. "Zhao Yilu, how could you be so thoughtful!"

Zhao Yilu smiled and touched Fan Xi's head. "Life in the military dependents' compound is still a bit hard. I can only try my best to make your life more comfortable. It still can't compare to your previous life. I'm sorry that you have suffered with me!"

Fan Xi raised his face and smiled brightly, "I don't feel wronged at all. With you here, life is sweet no matter where I am!"