Chapter 41

Jiang Yao's impression of Zhang Dong still remained on the day he was discharged from the hospital and went home. He was of good stature and good looks, and was warm and generous. In addition, he often ran errands for them, which further improved her impression of him.

"When did he fall in love with Zhu Xia?" Jiang Yao asked puzzledly.

Lu Che shook his head, "I'm not sure, probably when you gave birth."

"..." Jiang Yao was a little speechless, "You are going to be the introducer now, shouldn't you clarify these issues first?"

"What's there to know?" Lu Che said as a matter of course: "It's Zhang Dong who's looking for a wife, not me. Am I asking so many questions for nothing? Anyway, Zhang Dong means this now. Go ask Zhu Xia what she thinks. If she's willing, let them get along. If not, forget it."

"Your attitude is too perfunctory." Jiang Yao said: "Zhang Dong helped us a lot before, you should at least be more positive."

"It's hard to be proactive about this. I usually help him a lot in his work."

Jiang Yao no longer wanted to discuss this issue with him, and said, "I still have a question. Since Zhang Dong has been interested in Zhu Xia for more than three months, why did he ask you to help him connect with her today? Could it be that he has been looking for a better partner during this period of time?"

It is a good thing to make a marriage, but Jiang Yao is also afraid of doing bad things with good intentions. If Zhu Xia is Zhang Dong's "donkey" and he is looking for her as a second choice because he can't find a "horse", she doesn't want to do such a "good thing".

"No." Lu Che said, "Our factory has been working on a technical problem for some time. Sometimes we were so busy that we didn't even go home. The leader took care of me and allowed me to go home every day. Zhang Dong didn't have time, so he didn't come to me until today. Also, he is the same age as me. He hasn't found a wife at such an old age, so he is often laughed at by his coworkers. Anyone who has been in a relationship before will spread it everywhere, even if it didn't work out."

"...Okay." Jiang Yao said, "I'll ask Zhu Xia tomorrow. She's 23 and Zhang Dong is 25, so their ages are pretty compatible."

"Then I'll leave this matter to you, my wife. No matter whether Zhu Xia agrees or not, you must give me an answer as soon as possible. Otherwise, Zhang Dong will be like a fly buzzing in my ear all day long, and I'll be annoyed to death." Lu Che said, and then hugged Jiang Yao to sleep.

The biggest disadvantage of breastfeeding is that the baby gets hungry quickly. Chang Chang and Xiao Lu usually have two feedings a night. Jiang Yao usually sleeps very deeply, while Lu Che jumps up immediately when there is any movement, and takes the little one who wakes up first to Jiang Yao's arms to feed, so as not to wake up the other one.

The usual result of this is that Jiang Yao sleeps till dawn, completely unaware that she has been a "cash cow" twice.

The next day, when she got up, Lu Che had already gone to work, and he was also responsible for all the heavy work at home.

Life with a child is undoubtedly hard, but Jiang Yao is not the one who has the hardest time. After all, her main task is to take care of the child, and the old lady helps a lot during the day. On the contrary, Lu Che is busier at home than at the factory. Anyway, he rushes to do all the work he can do.

After breakfast, Jiang Yao planned to go look for Zhu Xia and take the brother and sister out for a walk. However, she was troubled as she couldn't hold both of them in her arms.

Just when she was planning to carry one on her back and one in her arms, Zhu Xia came to her door carrying a piece of pork liver.

"Why are you here? I was just about to look for you!" Jiang Yao said happily when she saw Zhu Xia outside the door.

"The busy farming season will start in about ten days. I'm going to the county town to buy myself some meat to supplement my diet. Otherwise, I won't even have the energy to work." Zhu Xia raised the pig liver in her hand and said, "I know you like this stuff. I bought it because it looks new."

"Thank you so much. I'll get you the money." Jiang Yao took the liver and pulled her into the house. "Don't rush back. I have something to tell you."

"No need to give. This pig liver doesn't require a ticket and doesn't cost much. Just think of it as something I bought for my godson and goddaughter. I often eat at your house."

"No, brothers should settle accounts clearly. Otherwise, I won't dare ask you to help me carry things next time." Jiang Yao first carried the pork liver back to the kitchen and asked Zhu Xia to go to the room to see the brother and sister.

When Jiang Yao returned to the room, Changchang and Xiaolu had already woken up, and Zhu Xia was playing with them.

"Yaoyao, these two little guys are so cute!" Zhu Xia waved at Jiang Yao when she saw her, "Come over and take a look."

Jiang Yao walked over, sat down next to her, and said with a smile: "So cute, do you like it?"

"Of course I like it." Zhu Xia said without thinking.

"If you like, just give birth to one yourself."

Caught off guard by this sentence, Zhu Xia was stunned, and then smiled bitterly: "I... don't even have a man, how can I give birth?"

"If you don't have a man, find one." Jiang Yao got straight to the point and asked, "What do you think of Lu Che's co-worker named Zhang Dong?"

"Zhang Dong?" Zhu Xia's cheeks flushed after she realized what was happening. She lowered her head and said, "He's a worker, earning a salary and eating commercial grain. How can he look down on me, an educated youth who went to the countryside?"

"He just took a fancy to her." Jiang Yao said.

"What?" Zhu Xia's eyes widened in shock.

Jiang Yao smiled and said, "Zhang Dong has had his eyes on you for a long time, but he was too busy with work some time ago. He has free time these two days, so he asked Lu Che to be the matchmaker."

"He...he...how..." Zhu Xia's face turned red all the way to her ears. She wanted to say something but stumbled for a long time before she could squeeze out a few words. "Why does he like me?"

"Why can't I like you? You are tall, pretty, and an educated youth from the provincial capital." Jiang Yao patted her shoulder and encouraged her, "Zhu Xia, don't underestimate yourself. In fact, you are very good and worthy of Zhang Dong. Now you just need to consider whether you should be with this person."

Although Zhu Xia had only met Zhang Dong twice, she had a good impression of him. He was humorous and witty. She never felt bored when she was with him. She was even often amused by him. But before today, she had never thought about it. To be exact, she didn't dare to think about it.

It's not just because their jobs are very different, but also because she is not young anymore. A man like Zhang Dong who has a small career can easily find an 18-year-old girl. There is no reason for him to fall in love with an old girl like her.

"How is it?" Jiang Yao looked at her without saying anything for a long time, poked her shoulder and asked.

"Then... let's try to meet... and see." Even though Zhu Xia was older than Jiang Yao, she was unmarried and had never been in a relationship, so she immediately blushed and became shy.

"It's settled then." Jiang Yao said with a smile, "When Lu Che comes back tonight, I'll talk to him and then arrange a time for you two to be alone together."

"Alone? I can't do that." Zhu Xia nervously pulled Jiang Yao's sleeve and said, "Yaoyao, please stay with me, otherwise I will be so nervous that I won't know how to speak."

Jiang Yao laughed when she heard that. "I saw you and Zhang Dong were having a very happy chat last time."

"How can last time be the same as this time? Last time there weren't so many twists and turns." Zhu Xia said.

Seeing her flustered and shy appearance, Jiang Yao guessed that Zhu Xia should have a good impression of Zhang Dong. If that was the case, she would try her best to promote this marriage. She said, "Okay, once it's confirmed, I'll see how to arrange for everyone to go out and play together. First, you don't have to be so nervous, and second, I can help you investigate Zhang Dong."

"Thank you, Yaoyao." Zhu Xia happily hugged Jiang Yao's shoulders.

"No need to thank me, but if you two really get together, don't blame me for dragging you down. Just stay here." Jiang Yao joked.

She said it in advance. If Zhu Xia married Zhang Dong, even if she married to the county town, it would be like cutting off her way back to the provincial capital. After all, a small county town cannot be compared with a provincial capital.

"How could that be?" Zhu Xia asked sincerely, "How is your life after marriage? I think it's pretty good. Anyway, looking at the entire Qingyuan Production Team, I haven't seen any married woman living better than you."

"Very good." Jiang Yao smiled calmly, "I am very satisfied with my current marriage life which is full of fireworks."

Daily necessities filled every corner of her life, and raising a child took up almost all of her time. But as long as she had a chance to breathe, she could always feel the love from Lu Che. Such fragmented romance made her married life full of happiness.

"In fact, I never thought that I would focus on my family after marriage. Now I am "bound" by two little ones. Instead of feeling unwilling, I am happy with it."

Jiang Yao's smile deepened. "It is a happy thing to be able to have children with the person you love, but it is only the beginning of happiness. To continue this happiness, both of you must participate in raising children together."

"I'm very glad that Lu Che fulfilled his role as a father and husband very well, and he calmed my anxiety of being "trapped" at home by my child. Now I don't regard raising a child as a task, but enjoy the process."

Now that she has become a full-time mother, she should make the best of it and take good care of her children. Anyway, whether it is the resumption of the college entrance examination or the reform and opening up, it will be four or five years later. Instead of being anxious all the time, it is better to live well in the present few years and slowly wait for the opportunity to come.

Zhu Xia was a little confused by what she heard, but there was nothing she could do. Jiang Yao's insights were related to her previous life. There was a generation gap of several decades between them, so it would be strange if she could understand it.

However, there is one thing Zhu Xia is sure of, that is, Jiang Yao's marriage life is very happy, and it would be great if she could have such a marriage in the future.

Her thoughts drifted a little far away until she was called back by the cry of the little deer. Her face suddenly became hot because she had automatically brought Zhang Dong into her imagination just now. It was really embarrassing.

However, Jiang Yao did not notice her abnormality because she was busy feeding the little deer and had to make sure she was full quickly because Changchang was also getting hungry.

After working as a "cash cow" for three or four months, Jiang Yao is no longer as shy as she was at the beginning. She can now open her clothes in front of her female compatriots.

"Yaoyao, how come you still have such a good figure after giving birth to a child?" Zhu Xia exclaimed.

Jiang Yao heard this and answered reflexively: "Yeah, it's a little bigger, and my bras are no longer big enough to wear."

"...I wasn't talking about your top...I was saying that your waist is still so thin, even though you gave birth to two babies at once." This made Zhu Xia embarrassed.

"..." Jiang Yao felt a little embarrassed because she had misunderstood. In fact, it was not her fault. If anyone was to blame someone, it should be someone else. When they said that her figure had improved, they were referring specifically to the part above the waist.

"Because you are young, you recover very quickly." Jiang Yao laughed and changed the subject, "You should get married and have children soon, so that you can recover just as well by then."

“…”

In the evening, the family of four took a bath and lay on the bamboo mat of the big bed to cool off, but the weather in August was still very hot, and they still felt sticky even when fanning themselves.

Jiang Yao was fine, but children have fast metabolism, and sweat would come out again soon after being wiped off. For a hot-blooded man like Lu Che, the sweat never stopped.

The couple each held a small towel, Jiang Yao served Chang Chang, and Lu Che served Xiao Lu.

“It would be great if we were in the county town. There’s electricity there and we could buy an electric fan to cool down.” Lu Che said with emotion.

"Just think about it." Jiang Yao said, "Don't mention that your electromechanical factory hasn't built a dormitory yet. Even if it does, at most you can get a bed. The three of us and grandma can't live in a dormitory with you."

"I know." Lu Che nodded and said, "Actually, I heard from Zhang Dong that there is a house for rent near his home. I asked about the rent, and probably because no one is renting it, the rent is quite cheap."

"What? You want to rent it and move your family out?" Jiang Yao asked.

"That's what I thought, but it's a bit troublesome to implement." Lu Che sighed and said, "Renting a house is not allowed in the first place, and it's done secretly. If you move out, others will definitely get suspicious. After all, I'm not a leader in the electromechanical factory, and no one will believe me if I say I move to a family dormitory."

"Don't think too much, let's just walk step by step." Jiang Yao said, "By the way, Zhu Xia came to our house today. I told her about Zhang Dong's situation. She agreed to meet him, but she hoped that we would go with her because she is shy."

"Shall we go with them?" Lu Che said disdainfully, "Why should we go with them? To watch them fall in love?"

"We haven't even started dating yet, how can we start dating so soon?" Jiang Yao said unhappily, "This kind of meeting with a strong purpose will be a little awkward, and we are here to ease the awkwardness."

“Are we just a tool?”

"...Your summary is very accurate. We are just tools." Jiang Yao said, "Go back tomorrow and tell Zhang Dong if he is free this Sunday. If he is free, come out and talk. The production team is about to start the final rice planting. Once it gets busy, Zhu Xia will not have time."

"Okay, I'll tell you when I get back to the factory tomorrow." Lu Che agreed and asked, "Do you think we should buy some malted milk for Xiaolu and Changchang? They will be four months old soon, and your mother said your breast milk may not be enough to feed them enough."

"If you see it, you might want to stock up a few cans." Jiang Yao also knows that after a child is six months old, the nutrition in breast milk can no longer meet their growth and development needs.

Malted milk was the best nutritional supplement of the time, and it was all they could give. All she could think about was the complementary food, making it more varied and trying to achieve a balanced nutrition.

"I'm taking a day off the day after tomorrow and plan to go to the provincial capital. Can you see if there's anything you want to bring? I'll bring it back with you," Lu Che said.

"There are so many things to bring." Jiang Yao went to the bedside table and took out a pen and paper. "I'll write it down."

She wrote as she thought, basically focusing on the needs of the two children, and finally handed a long piece of paper to Lu Che.

He took them and looked through them one by one. When he saw the last one, he paused, then said with a sly smile, "Wife, do you have to buy so many of those things? Don't worry, I'm not blaming you. I will definitely buy the required amount and satisfy you."

"How dare you say that?" Jiang Yao rolled her eyes at him and said, "Don't you see how bad you are? That thing is consumed so quickly. Of course we have to prepare in advance, otherwise what if someone dies? We agreed that now that we have two children, our life's production mission has been completed. You don't want to regret it, do you?"

"Of course not." Lu Che hugged her and said, "You want to have a baby but I don't want to. Although there is a gap now, at least I don't have to be a vegetarian for a long time. How can I be upset? I promise that in the future we will not have children, but only carry out the exercise of making children."

“…”

The next day, Lu Che brought back news that Zhang Dong agreed to meet this Sunday, but he didn't know how to arrange it.

Jiang Yao thought for a moment and said, "Isn't there a park in the county? Let's go there and play. Bring some food with us, and sit on the lawn together to chat and eat. It will be relaxing and comfortable without being too awkward. Also, Changchang and Xiaolu have never been out to play since they were little. Let's take this opportunity to take them out for a stroll."

"That's good." Lu Che agreed, "Wife, you are smart, but when we were dating, why didn't you think of going to the park with me?"

"I wanted to, but when we were dating, you were busy with various side jobs to make money, and I couldn't stop you from going. Besides, we were only dating for a few days and then got married, so how could we have time to arrange this?"

"...It seems so." Lu Che listened to her slightly resentful tone, fearing that she would complain about getting married too quickly, so he calmly changed the subject and said, "I'll buy some candy tomorrow and bring it over when the time comes."

"Okay." Jiang Yao nodded. "I'll prepare some other food and bring it over."

Soon, it was Sunday.

Lu Che got up at five o'clock to work, and Jiang Yao also got up to cook.

He was reluctant to let her work so hard, so he said, "I'll just cook some sweet potatoes and eggs and bring them over. Don't bother yourself and go back to sleep."

"No." Jiang Yao disagreed: "Leaving aside Zhang Dong and Zhu Xia, this is the first time for our family of four to go to the park, so we have to prepare well."

"Okay." Lu Che suddenly thought of something and compromised. "Then make more delicious food and let Zhang Dong get married quickly. Otherwise, he'll nag me every day and I'll be annoyed to death."

"Pfft." Jiang Yao couldn't help laughing.

After making sure that the brother and sister were sleeping well, they walked out of the room, but they didn't dare close the door, for fear that they wouldn't hear it when they woke up.

Lu Che went out to collect firewood, and Jiang Yao went to the kitchen to cook.

She originally wanted to make meat buns, but there was no meat so early in the morning, so she made a Chinese sandwich.

She first kneaded the flour, made a pot of steamed buns, and then cut the buns in half with a knife.

Sandwich a fried egg, tomato slices and cucumber slices in the middle and you have a Chinese sandwich.

In addition, she also made a cold stew with kelp, fungus and mushrooms. She wanted to make a cold cucumber or tomato, but now there are not enough cucumbers and tomatoes for delivery, and she also needs to eat them on weekdays, so she decided to save some.

These are all food. She also put some effort into the drinks.

Jiang Zhen sent her some dried lemons a few months ago, so she took a few pieces and boiled a pot of lemonade. Because it tasted too sour, she added some sugar to it, and it became sour and sweet lemonade. Drinking a cup on a hot summer day can relieve the heat and stimulate the appetite.

After the food was packed, Changchang and Xiaolu woke up.

Jiang Yao immediately fed them, and when Lu Che returned to the room after he finished his work, she asked him to pack the things the children would need for going out.

I have to say that there are so many things to bring when taking children out.

Just as Lu Che had finished packing, Zhang Dong came on his bicycle, followed by Zhu Xia.

The last time they met, they were still talking and laughing, but this time they didn't even dare to look at each other. Jiang Yao found it funny and wonderful.

Ambiguity is truly a moment in a relationship that makes people reminisce.

Once the two little guys have eaten and drunk enough, they can set off.

"Yaoyao, let me hold the little deer." Zhu Xia had been nervous for a long time, and finally there was something to distract her attention. Especially since Zhang Dong was going to ride his bicycle later, she had to let the little deer give her courage.

But Lu Che didn't give her the chance and said, "No need, I'll carry Changchang on my back and Yaoyao can hold Xiaolu."

As he spoke, Lu Che, with the help of Jiang Yao, carried Chang Chang on his back with a sling.

Zhang Dong looked at him and couldn't help laughing, "Lu Che, why are you acting like a woman? It's so funny..."

In later generations, there are many dads who carry their children on their backs while shopping, but in the 1970s, it was very rare to see a man carrying a child on his back.

Lu Che was not angry at being ridiculed, he just said to Zhang Dong quietly: "What's so funny? When you have a baby in the future, you won't carry it on your back? Let your wife do all the hard work..."

"..." Zhang Dong stopped laughing instantly, and quickly looked at Zhu Xia, explaining hurriedly: "Of course I will carry you, I won't let my wife get tired."

He looked sincere, as if he was going to grab Zhu Xia's hand to explain something the next moment. Zhu Xia's cheeks turned red from his stare, and she lowered her head in a hurry, not daring to look him in the eye.

"Let's go." Lu Che said. He was too lazy to watch Zhang Dong flirting with girls.

Zhang Dong and Zhu Xia set off first, while Lu Che and Jiang Yao followed behind them at a leisurely pace.

"Wife, why did you tell me not to let Zhu Xia hold the child? It's not that I don't want to hold the child, but the weather is hot, and Changchang is also hot on my back." Lu Che asked.

"Of course, we are creating opportunities for them!" Jiang Yao looked at the two people in front with a smile and said, "Look, Zhu Xia doesn't need to hold the child now. She should sit sideways. Wait..."

Before she could finish her words, Zhang Dong slammed on the brakes and Zhu Xia instinctively reached out and hugged him.

Even though she didn't say anything, Lu Che understood what she meant. "Wife, I didn't expect you to have so many ideas. Can you think of one to use on me?"

“…”

The author has something to say:

Lu Che: Wife, please give me some advice...

My brother’s nickname has been changed to Changchang, Xiaojian (cheap), I really didn’t expect this… (laughing and crying jpg.)