Chapter 118 Chapter 118 Household Chores

Zhang Yuandong saw Captain Lu and his wife out, and took the dishes to the kitchen outside to wash them.

Captain Lu's wife was pregnant, and he promised to take care of the housework. But even though he had said that, he was still a big man, and he was afraid of being laughed at by others, so he didn't dare to go to the kitchen to wash the dishes. He originally wanted to wait until later when no one was around to wash the dishes, but when he saw Zhang Yuandong holding the bowls and chopsticks, as if he was going to wash the dishes, he said happily, "Captain Zhang, you are washing the dishes too? That's perfect. I went home and got some dishes to share with you!"

After saying that, he hurried back to the house next door and happily brought out the dishes. He was really happy. Zhang Yuandong was the head of the regiment. Even the head of the regiment was washing dishes, so what was there to be ashamed of for a small battalion commander like him?

Sure enough, everyone he met in the corridor would compliment him: "Captain Zhang, you're washing dishes again. You're such a good family man!" As for him, they would ask, "Oh, Captain Lu is here too!"

Captain Lu was very satisfied. He didn't care what these people said behind his back. At least no one made fun of him to his face.

Zhang Yuandong felt a little helpless. Why didn't he know that this person was so clingy before? It was okay for her to squeeze into the kitchen with him when washing dishes, but after washing the dishes, she even wanted to ask him to do the laundry together.

They were two big men, both of whom were quite sturdy, so it was okay for them to squeeze into the kitchen, which was shared by four households and usually not crowded. But doing laundry was different, as there was only one washroom on this floor, so there would definitely be a lot of people. He wanted to go later, but he didn't want to squeeze in with others at all.

Unfortunately, this person didn't care what he thought. When he saw Zhang Yuandong enter the house, he shouted outside the door: "Captain Zhang, I'll come to you with some clothes in a while!"

Zhang Yuandong's face suddenly turned dark.

Sure enough, there were quite a few people in the washroom. Every household had just finished their meals, and most of the officers had just returned from training and had collected a lot of clothes, so many families were carrying basins to wash clothes.

However, in other houses, only women come to wash, and there are only two men, Zhang Yuandong and Lu Zhiguo. As soon as the two of them entered the door, the originally noisy bathroom suddenly became a lot quieter. Many people poked their heads to look at them, as if they were watching some excitement. Originally, many of them were talking about Captain Zhang and Captain Lu washing the dishes. Now that the real owner has arrived, these people are not embarrassed and greet them with a smile: "Captain Zhang, Commander Lu, come here. Wash here, it’s a big place!”

Zhang Yuandong was not very good at dealing with these people, but Lu Zhiguo was different. He said straightforwardly, "Okay, Aunt Wang, I like to rely on you!"

After hearing this, Auntie Wang laughed so hard that she couldn't close her mouth. She gave them more space. She took the opportunity to ask, "I noticed that your wife rarely goes out recently. The meals are all cooked by Captain Zhang's wife. Is she feeling unwell?"

When everyone heard Aunt Wang ask this, they all pricked up their ears to listen to what he had to say.

Lu Zhiguo laughed and said, "What? She's pregnant, so she's very nervous and doesn't like to go out much."

People around congratulated them and joked from time to time. Lu Zhiguo accepted it well and soon became one of them. Zhang Yuandong worked silently beside them, and seemed to be in a different world from them. Someone asked Zhang Yuandong: "Captain Zhang, I see you often help your wife wash dishes and clothes. Is your wife pregnant?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone looked towards Zhang Yuandong. This little leader Zhang would sometimes wait until everyone was gone before sneaking in to do the laundry. He probably felt embarrassed and thought that they didn't know anything!

Zhang Yuandong frowned and said, "I feel sorry for my wife and don't want her to be too tired. The work in my house is divided. She cooks and I wash the dishes; she takes care of the children and I do the laundry. The house is not hers alone, and I married a nanny. Isn't it my responsibility to do these things?" These women in the family compound are different from the aunts and uncles in Xiaotian Village. Those people in Xiaotian Village showed him a lot of kindness when he was young, and he was willing to be close to them.

But the people in the family compound were different. They just wanted to gossip with him. He didn't want to deal with them, but that didn't mean he was dumb. They wanted to make him blush, but that was impossible. As soon as he said this, they were all speechless and didn't know how to respond.

Lu Zhiguo clapped his hands twice, slapping the soap bubbles all over his hands. He smiled and said, "Captain Zhang is right. No wonder my wife always complained that I didn't help when the soy sauce bottle fell over. Now that I heard what Captain Zhang said, I finally understand what I should do."

With Lu Zhiguo mediating, the women in the washroom, whether they agreed or disagreed, all agreed and changed the subject. No one dared to bring the topic back to Zhang Yuandong. Zhang Yuandong was happy and relaxed. He washed his own dirty military uniforms and washed out the children's clothes for the day.

This problem seemed to be over, but in fact it continued to ferment for a long time. In the days that followed, the quarrels between husband and wife in the family compound would occasionally be mixed with this topic. Many officers found that their wives had changed and began to make demands on them, and they suddenly felt miserable.

By the time Zhang Yuandong came back from hanging the laundry, it was already late. Little Sisi had already fallen asleep, and Lin Yue was sitting at the desk with the three children. Lingling and Wanli were drawing, and Little Mushroom was sitting next to them, scribbling on paper like his older brothers and sisters.

Lin Yue was drawing her design, a winter children's clothing, with two styles, boys and girls. She was going to send it to the county clothing factory. After losing her income from the black market two years ago, she got in touch with a clothing factory and occasionally sold them some design drafts. When asked why she drew children's clothing instead of adult clothing, it was because there was no market for ready-made clothing at that time. She did not seek innovation, but only □□. Only children's clothing still had some market.

When she saw Zhang Yuandong coming back, she put down her pen, took out a letter from her drawer and handed it to him, saying, "This is a letter from the two brothers Shouren and Shouyi. Before I left, I left them my house and food, and also some money. These two are too sincere. They called a few days ago and said they would mail it to us, but I refused. Now they actually wrote me an IOU."

Zhang Yuandong took the letter and read it quickly. The two did not say anything else, only saying that they would take good care of the house and the private plot, and that they would keep an account of the harvest from the private plot. They also promised to study hard in the future and return the money and tickets to them when they got a job.

After reading the letter and the IOU they wrote, Zhang Yuandong said mercilessly: "You are still too pedantic. You still have to calculate an egg."

Lin Yue said unhappily, "They are only 14 years old, they are still two children, and something like that happened. It's already very good that they can do this. They have no problem with their character and are willing to make progress. What else do you expect from them?"

Zhang Yuandong immediately admitted his mistake: "Yes, yes, my wife is right!"

Lin Yue didn't pursue this matter and changed the topic to something else: "You should have a good rest at home. I will take Lingling to the bathhouse first. The children haven't had a good bath in the days you were away. It's a good coincidence that you just came back. When we come back, you can also take Wanli and Xiao Mushroom to the bathhouse to have a good massage. Here, everything is ready for you!"

When Lingling heard her mother say this, she slid down from the stool, ran to her mother, and held her mother's hand tightly. She had wanted to go to the bathhouse for a long time, but her father was not at home, Wanli and Xiao Mushroom could not go to the bathhouse, so she and her mother could not go either. They could only get some water at home and wipe themselves.

Seeing this, Wanli quickly climbed down from the chair and said anxiously, "Mom, I want to go too! You can't just take Lingling with you and not me!"

Lin Yue smiled and said, "You are a boy, you can't go into the women's bathroom with us. Your father is back, he will take you there later!"

I couldn't go before because of this. If one of the children in a family can't go, the other children can't go either. It's not the lack of children that is worrying, but the inequality of the children.

Ling Ling made a face at Wan Li and followed her mother. Although Wan Li felt a little disappointed, he no longer felt bad when he thought that his father had returned and would be able to take him with him.

Lin Yue and Ling Ling came back from bathing and found the house quiet. She pushed the door open and saw Zhang Yuandong lying on the floor. Sisi's crib had been moved outside and was now beside him. The two children, Wanli and Xiao Mushroom, were kneeling beside their father, not knowing what they were doing.

Lin Yue hurried over and found that Zhang Yuandong had fallen asleep. The two children were holding ink-soaked brushes, each of them was responsible for one side of Zhang Yuandong's face, and they were painting randomly on his face. The half of the face that Little Mushroom was responsible for was almost completely painted black. From time to time, Little Mushroom wanted to stretch his claws to his father's clothes, but was stopped by Wanli.

Lin Yue found it somewhat funny and somewhat guilty. He had just returned today and was already very tired, having washed dishes and clothes, yet now he just lay on the floor and fell asleep. Even the child making a fuss beside him did not wake him up.

She gently coaxed the two children aside and whispered to Wanli: "Your father is too tired. Look, he is so tired that he has fallen asleep. How about not taking a bath today and let your father take you there tomorrow?"

Wanli pouted, feeling very reluctant. He didn't really want to take a bath with his father, because his father's hands were too strong and he would always rub his body red. But Lingling had already taken a bath, and if he didn't take a bath today, Lingling would definitely show off to him how clean she was.

Ling Ling fanned the flames: "That's right, don't wash today. You haven't been there for many days anyway, so one day won't make a difference!"

Zhang Yuandong was indeed very tired, but he was still alert as a soldier. He woke up from his sleep when he heard the door ring, but because he knew deep down that he was at home, his body was still relaxed and he did not move for a long time.

At this time, he heard a few people talking in low voices, and then he slowly sat up and said in confusion: "You guys are back so soon! Then I will take these two to take a shower as well."

Lingling's eyes were glued to her father's face. She wanted to laugh out loud, but the desire to play a prank took over and she covered her mouth to prevent herself from laughing out loud.

Lin Yue was also looking at his face, his brows wrinkled into the shape of the Chinese character "川". Before she could remind him anything, Zhang Yuandong stood up and shouted to the little guys, "Wanli, Xiao Mushroom, let's go!" The two of them responded crisply, stood up and ran over, ready to follow their father out the door.

Lin Yue quickly stopped the man and reminded him, "You'd better look in the mirror before you go out."

Zhang Yuandong subconsciously looked at the small mirror hanging at the door, and his expression suddenly became colorful. Half of his face was painted into a black Bao Gong, and the other half was painted with small plum blossoms. It was simply indescribable. He turned his head suddenly to look at the two children following behind him, and the two children trembled with fear.

Wanli suddenly had a bad feeling that he might have a snack tonight, such as fried bamboo shoots with meat.