081 Comfortable
Not only did Aunt Er slip away, but she also dragged Aunt Bai and her daughter-in-law, who were coming to the backyard to join in the fun, away as well.
"Don't go and interfere with the young couple's business!"
The young couple inside looked at each other, suddenly feeling a little awkward.
Guan Yuehe touched her neck, looked up at the roof beam, and said, "Weren't you staying over tonight? Well, we didn't prepare any clothes for you..."
She thought about cutting up her useless fabric and making him a simple outfit. His parents had a sewing machine, so making clothes would be easy for them.
Lin Yi cleared her throat and looked down at her shoes. "There are two sets of clothes next door. I'll go get them."
"Then hurry up and go. There are still some unused towels at home. I'll take them out, wash them, and let them air dry."
After saying that, one of them went straight to the bedroom to rummage through the closet, while the other went to the neighbor's yard to get some old clothes that were stored at home.
Just as Aunt Bai and Aunt Er were chuckling to themselves after gossiping, they suddenly saw Lin Yiku walking by in a hurry. They were both stunned: Wait, wasn't this done too fast?
—
There's nothing much to tidy up at home for now. Lin Yiku has already gone out on his bicycle to buy whitewash and alkali. He'll get everything ready first, and then paint the walls when he's home on a day he has some free time.
Guan Yuehe put the two sets of clothes he brought into the closet.
There was a large double-door wardrobe. The top two large compartments were used to store quilts, and there were eight compartments in total at the bottom, which were used to store her clothes for spring, summer, autumn and winter. Only the compartment for winter clothes was full, and there was another compartment for fabric and towels that others had given her.
The remaining three compartments belonged to Lin Yiku. At that moment, she only had a set of long-sleeved shirts and trousers for sleeping, and an old military uniform.
A marriage certificate had been added to the cabinet used to store documents and money, but Guan Yuehe didn't feel that anything had changed.
But when clothes that didn't belong to her suddenly appeared in the closet, she finally felt the reality that "she and Lin Yiku were married."
"Yuehe." Aunt Fang came over carrying a basket of dumplings she had just made today.
"This plate has meat filling, and this plate has vegetable filling. Take some for your breakfast tomorrow. By the way, come to my house for dinner tonight. Your mom and I have already agreed that our two families will eat together."
"good."
It was rare to see her acting awkward, so Aunt Fang laughed and asked, "What's wrong? Are you uncomfortable being Aunt Fang's daughter-in-law?"
"No... Oh dear, I was thinking that if I call 'Mom' from this side, you and Mom on the other side of the courtyard wall will get confused." It would be easier to distinguish between her father and Uncle Lin, since she could call one "Dad" and the other "Papa".
"Hey, it's nothing! From now on, you can call me Aunt Fang, and Lin Yiku's dad, just call him Dad Lin."
"Okay, I'll do as you say." Guan Yuehe was about to cover the two plates of dumplings when Aunt Fang stuffed a bulging handkerchief into her hand.
Lifting the handkerchief revealed a bundle of ten-yuan notes, at least twenty in total.
Just as she was about to push it back, Aunt Fang withdrew her hand and said, "Your father Lin and I have discussed it. When Yiku and Sitian get married, the bride price and dowry will be paid with their own savings, and the family will give an additional three hundred yuan. This is Yiku's share, you keep it."
"What? Still being polite with me?"
Guan Yuehe smiled shyly and put the money away. "Thank you, Aunt Fang."
"You're being so polite with me... it's a bit strange," Aunt Fang said with a smile.
"Yuehe, where is the key to the storage room?" Lin Yiku had just bought white powder and alkali and returned home. As soon as she entered the house, she found her mother there. "Mom."
"You bought it? How about we finish it today? Your dad and the others will be back later, and we can get a few people to help us finish it tonight."
Lin Yiku refused repeatedly, insisting that he would take a break and come back to work on it another day.
They'll all be able to sleep at home if they use it tonight.
Aunt Fang belatedly realized that this arrangement was inappropriate, and said, "You guys figure it out."
After saying that, he suddenly remembered that he had something to do at home, so he picked up the empty basket and left.
Guan Yuehe took the keys hanging on the wall down and gave them to him. These were the keys to the storage room and the toilet. "I'll print out an extra set of house keys for you another day."
"Oh right, your mom just brought over three hundred yuan, I've put it away."
"good."
Lin Yiku had been busy all day and hadn't had a moment to rest, so he didn't even have time to test if the kang (heated brick bed) was wide enough. By the time he finally had some free time, the workers had gradually returned to work.
As everyone began preparing dinner, Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku went door-to-door distributing wedding candies.
They mainly deliver to courtyards number two and three. The people in both courtyards are already acquainted, so there's no need for introductions. When they arrive, they just call out to the person, grab a handful of candy, peanuts, and melon seeds, put them on the table, chat for a bit, and then move on to the next house.
Dinner was a meal for both families. Jiang Guiying and Aunt Fang took out all the meat coupons they had saved and cooked a sumptuous meal.
Even Guan Yuehua and Gu Mannian were called over.
While everyone else was busy, Guan Yuehua, who was sitting to the side waiting, patted Guan Yuehe and asked her to sit down, then asked in a low voice, "Why did you suddenly get your marriage certificate? Is it because of what was going on outside the other day?"
While Guan Yuehe was attending the Canton Fair, a worker from the Wuxing Automobile Factory who hadn't been allocated a house went to the housing management department to complain, questioning why Guan Yuehe, a non-employee of the factory, was allocated two and a half rooms.
The housing management department explained at the time that Guan Yuehe had exchanged houses with workers from the car factory, and both factories' housing management departments had records of it. It was the workers' own action, and they paid rent every month, so there was no violation of regulations.
But some people just won't let it go, saying that the room Guan Yuehe was allocated at the garment factory was just a single room, much smaller than the one she currently lives in, and that she is unmarried and childless, which is completely unreasonable.
Although the troublemaking worker was calmed down, this matter might be brought up again someday.
Therefore, Guan Yuehua wondered if Guan Yuehe's immediate arrangement for the two families to have a meal and get married as soon as she returned was because she was afraid that if things got out of hand, they would take back her house.
Once the marriage certificate is obtained, the argument that "unmarried and childless women should not be allocated such a large house" is no longer valid. Moreover, after marriage, she is still a military dependent. Under normal circumstances of house replacement, who would be so foolish as to cause trouble for military dependents?
Guan Yuehe chuckled twice, "That's partly true. Getting married sooner will save us trouble."
"Eat something to fill your stomach first." Lin Yiku brought over a bowl of dumplings, then turned back to his kitchen to get busy, while everyone else was busy working at his house.
Before Guan Yuehua arrived, she thought that their wedding was too rushed and they hadn't prepared anything, but after hearing the lively sounds from next door, she felt that it didn't matter whether it was earlier or later.
But she still can't figure out how Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku could have fallen for each other.
Guan Yuehe glanced at Gu Mannian picking vegetables outside the house, then whispered to Guan Yuehua, "I never understood before how you could actually get together with my brother-in-law."
Her sister's ideas about finding a partner have definitely changed at least 90 degrees, if not 180.
"I can't reason with a blockhead like you." Guan Yuehua pushed him away. "You're heavy, don't lean on me."
"The baby in your belly will be nicknamed 'Club' from now on," Guan Yuehe said, touching her round belly.
The baby in her belly was very considerate of her aunt, bumping her belly into a shape whether it was a little hand or a little foot. Guan Yuehe immediately said, "Look, look, the baby is happy to be called a 'club'!"
"Tsk!" Guan Yuehua was almost amused by her and the baby in her belly.
After the two families finished eating, Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku tried to help clean up, but were told to "go about your business."
So much free time so early... Guan Yuehe pulled Lin Yiku to take a shower.
Instead of washing at home, each person would take a washbasin to the large public bathhouse in her factory to get a scrub.
After getting a scrub, Guan Yuehe turned on the TV. After sitting for a while, she realized the group of children hadn't come. Yuanbao from the neighboring yard was smugly questioning, "Liu Wuxing, didn't you say you'd rather die than come to my house to watch TV? Humph! Give me back my comic books!"
But the adults who go to Aunt Zhao's house to watch TV still arrive at the same time every day.
As they entered the backyard, they couldn't help but glance at Guan Yuehe's house, expecting to see the gate closed.
But the door was wide open as usual, the television was playing inside, and Lin Yi was sitting on a small stool by the door washing clothes...
"Lin Yiku, are you done washing up? Come in and watch TV." Guan Yuehe called out from the window.
"Come in once it's dried."
Guan Yuehe has been sticking to her routine for years, except that it used to be listening to the radio, studying for an hour, and then sleeping, but now it's watching TV, studying for an hour, and then sleeping.
Sure enough, after watching TV and as the noise in the yard gradually subsided, she was already reading English for twenty minutes, and then she would study German for forty minutes.
When it comes to studying, you can't be lazy even for a day.
Seeing her pick up the book, Lin Yiku swallowed the words that were about to come out. Impure thoughts seemed very inappropriate at this moment. She took a deep breath and tiptoed around to see what chores were left to do at home.
Aside from the extra pillows, the kang (heated brick bed) was no different from usual. She was a restless sleeper, so over the years, the quilt had been made bigger and bigger, enough to cover two people.
Thinking of this, Guan Yuehe felt a little guilty: Would Lin Yiku get kicked a few times by her tonight?
She whispered, "I'm most afraid of running into Chang Zhengyi when I go to the restroom. He's so eccentric, and people whose faith isn't strong enough will eventually be led astray by him."
Guan Yuehe was in a good mood, waving her flashlight and shaking his hand at the same time, which made Lin Yiku unsure for a moment: Did she think that marriage meant having more certificates and that everything else would be the same as when they were dating, just holding hands and hugging occasionally?
While the electricity was still on and the light was on, Guan Yuehe hurriedly got onto the kang (a heated brick bed), lay down on her pillow, and began to count.
I counted to ten, and then, with a snap, the power went out.
Lin Yiku had just lain down on the kang (heated brick bed) when he was wide awake. He was thinking of giving her a lesson on sleeping arrangements after marriage when Guan Yuehe accurately located his position and pressed him down, saying, "It's time to sleep!"
Lin Yiku's breath hitched as Guan Yuehe pressed herself against him, touching him curiously here and there, and saying, "Lin Yiku, the clothes you washed smell really good."
The clothes smelled wonderful. As the clothes gradually came off, it felt so comfortable when our skin touched. In the pitch-black night, as our fingers intertwined, I noticed that Lin Yiku's hands were beautiful.
Although nothing could be seen, the heavy, rapid, and swirling breathing caused the temperature in the room to rise rapidly.
This morning, Yuehe said that the kang (heated brick bed) was so hot that her ears turned red. Lin Yiku also felt that although the kang was not heated, it was indeed very hot. Not only was he sweating profusely, but the soft body that his fingers touched was also covered with a thin layer of sweat.
"Lin Yiku..."
She didn't have the energy to care whether Lin Yiku responded to her. When she finally regained consciousness, Lin Yiku pulled her into another hazy illusion.
Once the room temperature returned to normal, she habitually reached around the pillow for her watch, only to find that Lin Yiku had placed the pillow on the table next to her, and the watch was nowhere to be found.
The kerosene lamp on the desk flickered with light. Lin Yiku gathered up the quilt and clothes she had changed out of and carried them out. When she saw her touching the quilt, she took her watch from her.
Lin Yiku was washing clothes in the living room. Listening to the rustling sound, she yawned for a long time. As sleepiness came over her, she glanced at her watch. It was almost midnight, and she suddenly felt that today was exceptionally long.
—
As Guan Yuehe slept, she felt as if a stone was pressing down on her, but she was too sleepy to wake up.
She didn't know when, but the stones on her body were removed, and she was able to spread her arms and legs and occupy half of the kang (a heated brick bed).
Lin Yiku finished cooking the dumplings and returned to the room. She saw the person on the kang sleeping sprawled out, with the blanket kicked to one side and the shirt rolled up, exposing the lower abdomen.
He sighed helplessly.
If it were anyone else, she might have kicked them several times that night.
It was almost seven o'clock when Guan Yuehe finally started to stretch and roll around a few times before sitting up.
"Huh?" She almost thought she was seeing things. "You haven't gone to work yet?"
"Waiting for you to wake up."
“My workplace is nearby, and it’s not even in the same direction, so why would you wait for me?” Guan Yuehe said, then lay back down, wanting to sleep a little longer.
"There are dumplings in the pot, get up and eat. I'm on vacation in a couple of days, so I can stay home a bit longer. There's no rush to paint the walls." Lin Yiku went on and on before getting to the point, "Are you feeling unwell?"
I couldn't see clearly last night because of the darkness, but I just noticed that there were red patches on both sides of her waist.
"No, it's quite comfortable."
As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell silent.
Realizing what she had said, Guan Yuehe wanted to sew her mouth shut and silently pulled the blanket over her head, pretending to be asleep.
"...Okay, I'm going back to my unit."
No one responded.
Lin Yiku let out a heavy sigh of relief after leaving the bedroom, no longer daring to let her mind wander. She quickly pushed her bicycle out the door.
Chang Zhengyi, who was brushing his teeth in front of his house, reminded him, "You pushed the wrong car."
He was pushing Guan Yuehe's bicycle, which looked like it hadn't been bought for long.
Lin Yiku replied, "That's right," and hurriedly went out.
Chang Zhengyi was about to mutter something when Cao Lili came out of the room and patted him on the head, saying, "Enough with the nonsense."
—
"Wow! Section Chief Guan got a new car?" the gatekeeper exclaimed in surprise.
Section Chief Guan happily grabbed a handful of wedding candies and handed them over: "Please have some wedding candies!"
Section Chief Guan arrived at work a full twenty minutes early today to distribute wedding candies to each office.
During lunch, Xie Dongxue stared at her face from left to right, and clicked her tongue twice, saying, "You're in high spirits right now because of some good news."
"It's alright, it's alright." Guan Yuehe said happily, "Getting married is really great."
It's a pity that Lin Yiku can't go home every day now.
But she only missed two days. On Thursday night, Lin Yiku came back and was able to stay at home for two days.
He said he would paint the wall when he got back, but the two of them tacitly ignored the issue.
After the walls were painted, the house was temporarily uninhabitable, and they didn't want to sleep in his old room.
It's so nice to stay in their little home. You won't have to worry about people living nearby hearing any noise at night. The bedroom is in a pretty good location.
While Lin Yiku was resting at home, Guan Yuehe, unusually, rushed home for lunch, took a nap, and then went back to work.
The elderly folks at the alley entrance said, "Newlywed couples are always so clingy."
Guan Yuehe replied, "I'm not sticky now, but I won't have the energy to be sticky when I get older."
The elderly couple were speechless, choked by her words.
Lin Yiku's rest time is not fixed, while Guan Yuehe always rests on Sundays. The two rarely have the same day off.
Guan Yuehe could only go to the car factory or go back to school to deliver wedding candy to her teachers during her Sundays off.
When I returned to school on a Sunday in June, my teacher asked me, "Why haven't you brought your partner to meet us yet?"
Perhaps because the first class of worker-peasant-soldier students they taught were almost all soldiers, the teachers had a lot of goodwill toward Guan Yuehe, who was also a soldier and whom they had never met.
“I’ll bring him over when he has Sundays off.” Guan Yuehe said, pulling out a photo from her bag. “If we can’t see him, we can look at the photo. I have good taste, right? He’s better looking than the boys in our class.”
Teachers: "..."
Joking aside, the teachers didn't forget to point out her mistake: "At the end of last month, the leaders proposed 'respecting knowledge and respecting talent.' Do you know what that means?"
Recalling what Teacher Guo Xusheng had said on the train to Tianjin for the Canton Fair earlier this year, Guan Yuehe's eyes lit up. "Teacher, do you think the college entrance exam will...?"
The teacher gave her an approving look and said meaningfully, "It's impossible for a country to develop and grow strong without talent. Where does talent come from?"
Based on his experience teaching six cohorts of worker-peasant-soldier college students, he knew that relying solely on recommendations from the masses was definitely not enough.
The recommendation mechanism is unable to enable the country to select the best talents on a large scale, and the current curriculum of worker-peasant-soldier universities is also unable to cultivate talents effectively.
The teacher didn't say for sure that the college entrance exam would definitely be reinstated, but Guan Yuehe felt that it was only a matter of time.
Also in June, the Zhuoyue Garment Factory nominated two employees from all its workers to attend the Workers-Peasants-Soldier University.
Ding Xuewen wrote that Chen Lizhong's family had returned to Beijing, but Chen Lizhong hadn't yet received a quota to return to the city, and the production brigade hadn't been allocated any places for the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University this year. Ding Xuewen joked in the letter: "When we come back for a wedding this year, we'll have to give pork as a gift!"
The Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University seemed poised to continue operating, but Guan Yuehe always felt she had to do something about it.
She'd long lost her high school textbooks, but it wasn't a good time to borrow them from her sister, who was about to give birth. Knowing her sister, she figured if the college entrance exam were reinstated, her sister would definitely give it a try.
Lin Yiku and Lin Sitian's high school textbooks were lent to others for school use long ago, and now they're probably lost somewhere, maybe even in the toilet.
After much thought, Guan Yuehe approached Aunt Zhao, who worked at the recycling station.
"Get a few sets of high school textbooks? You need them? Why didn't you say so earlier! Chang Zhengyi's high school textbooks have all been torn up."
Aunt Zhao didn't ask any more questions, and just said she would look for it for her after she went to work.
It wasn't until mid-June that Aunt Zhao brought back two large bundles of books.
"I found all the books with 'high school' written on the cover for you. The other reference books were provided by Hai Ban'er. You know he has a sharp eye; if he says they're good stuff, they're probably pretty good."
Guan Yuehe, who hadn't studied very hard in high school, couldn't distinguish between good and bad. "Alright, please thank Grandpa Hai for me another day."
After some picking and choosing, I managed to put together a set of high school textbooks. I also organized all the remaining reference books and prepared to send them to Ding Xuewen.
She knew that Ding Xuewen had brought textbooks with him when he went to the countryside, but she didn't know if they were still there, or if Chen Lizhong had any... Never mind, she'll just send them all over!
I'm a little worried about how to write this reply.
Lin Yiku returned at some point and saw her biting the pen tip on a blank sheet of paper, sometimes frowning and sometimes sighing.
"What's wrong?"
"You're back!" Guan Yuehe snapped out of her worries, but after the initial surprise, something felt off. "You took the day off the day before yesterday, and you're taking tomorrow off too?"
And why did you come back so early today?
"I have to leave soon, I have to go on a mission. I'll let you know when I get back."
This is the first time he has to go on a mission since they got married, "and it may take a month before I can come back."
Although it was a bit sudden, Guan Yuehe had known for a while that he was a soldier, and she was mentally prepared for the possibility that he might be away on missions for a long time.
"Just call the neighborhood office, why make this extra trip?"
"Is it closed yet?" Guan Yuehe's topic suddenly jumped to the farthest horizon.
But this time spent together wasn't wasted. Lin Yi opened her arms and said, "The door is closed, let's hug."
"Hehe." Guan Yuehe happily pounced on him.
After holding the person in her arms, Guan Yuehe felt that she still needed to improve her awareness: the person hadn't even left yet, and she was already a little reluctant to part with them.
Perhaps because she didn't have to lift a finger, the clothes Lin Yiku washed always had a pleasant fragrance. For the next month, she would have to wash her own clothes, and she wouldn't be able to eat Lin Yiku's cooking anymore. She also wouldn't be able to hold Lin Yiku, who was so lovely to touch, at night... The more she thought about it, the more reluctant she became to let go.
"What were you worrying about just now?" Lin Yiku grabbed the hand that was groping around his waist. Time was tight, and he could only stay at home for half an hour at most. He was afraid he would lose control, so he quickly tried to distract her.
“Oh. Just now,” Guan Yuehe briefly recounted what her teacher had said and her own guesses before saying, “If I tell them, I’m afraid they’ll be disappointed if there’s no news in the end. If I don’t tell them, I’m afraid that if news does come, they won’t be able to keep up with others because they haven’t been studying for so long.”
She knew that if Ding Xuewen had the opportunity to take the college entrance examination, he would definitely try it.
But after ten years in the countryside, she was afraid that her resolve might be on the verge of collapse. She was afraid that if she spoke up, Ding Xuewen would cling to hope year after year, and who knew how long he could hold on this time? What if he lost all his fighting spirit...?
"And then there's my sister. Bangchui hasn't been born yet, and I don't think she'd dare mention it." Guan Yuehe remembered that he didn't know, and explained, "Bangchui is the nickname I gave to my sister's child."
Lin Yiku: "..."
Her sister called her a "club," so she nicknamed her sister's child "club." That makes sense.
The person holding him nuzzled his shoulder and sighed, "I really hope the college entrance exam will be reinstated soon, and I hope my sister and Ding Xuewen can both get into university."
"I hope you complete your mission successfully and return safely."
Lin Yiku felt a warmth in her heart and hugged the person even tighter.
"I don't enjoy my meals when you're not home."
Lin Yi gave a wry smile. "I eat four bowls of rice at home, but three and a half when I'm not, right?"
Guan Yuehe laughed so hard her shoulders shook. "If you're going to eat three and a half bowls, you should still add two steamed buns."
Well, that's indirectly increasing the amount of food consumed.
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