Qiao Baozhu couldn't persuade Shen Xiao, so she reluctantly ate a meat bun and put down her chopsticks.
"That's all you're going to eat?"
Shen Xiao looked at Qiao Baozhu with a worried look on his face. "Through our contact over the past few days, I found that you have a very small appetite. How did you survive this year in the countryside with such a small appetite?"
Qiao Baozhu paused while she was clearing the dishes and snorted righteously, "Because I've never been bad-mouthed."
Shen Xiao thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case.
Qiao Baozhu works in the cafeteria, so she will never go hungry no matter whether the food is good or bad. Shen Xiao thought about how Qiao Baozhu would make a cup of milk powder every day and have biscuits and noodles at home. She was indeed not a person who treated herself badly.
"By the way, what's the good news you just mentioned?"
Qiao Baozhu stared at Shen Xiao with curiosity.
"The family compound will be laying electricity in the next few days, and we will be able to use electric lights at home in the future."
Qiao Baozhu was pleasantly surprised: "The family compound is finally powered up. This is really good news."
The nights in Heilongjiang Province are extremely long in winter. At Qingyanshan Farm, the sun sets at around 4:00 p.m. and the sun rises at 7:00 a.m. Whether cooking or doing needlework, you have to light a kerosene lamp. Not only does the kerosene lamp have a pungent smell, but the light is also very dim.
After being reborn, the thing Qiao Baozhu couldn't adapt to the most was the lack of electricity.
Seeing Qiao Baozhu happy, Shen Xiao also felt relieved. His eyes fell on the unfinished woolen trousers, and he smiled and said, "After the electricity is turned on, you can't stay up late at night to knit sweaters. The light is not as good as the sun, and staying up late to work will hurt your eyes."
Qiao Baozhu nodded and said with a smile: "I know this. I still have to go to work during the day and I won't stay up late to work."
"I am also happy for Sister Wu and the others. After the electricity is turned on, they can relax a lot when they sew shoe soles at night."
Chen Xiao knew that Qiao Baozhu wanted to make money by sewing shoe soles with her sisters-in-law in the family compound.
In the car today, Zhang Cuilian discussed this matter with Qiao Baozhu. In addition to Wu Meili and a few others, Zhang Cuilian also introduced several unknown family members who all wanted to earn some pocket money by sewing shoe soles.
"Even if electricity was available, Sister Wu would not be willing to light a lamp to work. Electricity is much more expensive than kerosene, and she would rather hurt her eyes than spend money."
Shen Xiao's words opened up Qiao Baozhu's long-forgotten memories, and she recalled her childhood days.
"My family used to do this too. In the summer, my dad would set up a table at the door and finish his homework in the light from outside. Before every meal, my dad would ask three questions: Have you finished your homework? Have you reviewed it? Have you prepared for the lesson?"
"In winter, it was dark before school was over. The only light in the house was a 15-watt bulb, which was connected to a long cord and hung on my desk. I did my homework in the room while my mother cooked with that little light."
Hearing that Qiao Baozhu was doing her homework by electric light, Shen Xiao was surprised: “Father-in-law attaches great importance to your study.”
Qiao Baozhu nodded and sighed guiltily: "My father believes that only studying can change my destiny."
She raised her head, looked into Shen Xiao's eyes, and repeated solemnly: "Others say that if a girl wants to live a good life, she just needs to find a good man and marry him. But my father doesn't think so. If you want to live a good life, you can only rely on studying."
Shen Xiao narrowed his eyes and looked deeply at Qiao Baozhu without saying a word.
"But I was young and didn't believe in this theory at all. I thought my dad actually let me go to school just to get an extra thirty kilograms of food coupons. I was able to finish high school purely because of my dad's pressure."
What others would love to have is a chance, but in Qiao Baozhu's eyes it is a restriction. She chose to go to the countryside not only because she wanted to be closer to her biological parents, but more importantly, she wanted to escape the control of her adoptive father.
"After arriving at the farm, my dad kept telling my eldest uncle that if there was an opportunity to go to the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University in the future, I must ask him to reserve a place for me. My family members thought my dad was crazy."
Shen Xiao looked at Qiao Baozhu's guilty face, his mind heated up, and he blurted out: "After marriage, there will be opportunities to study, and you can go too."
Qiao Baozhu was stunned and looked at Shen Xiao in surprise.
"I'm telling the truth. It's a good thing that you want to make progress. The families of my former comrades-in-arms all went to study military medicine after having their children. After they returned from their studies, they stayed in the military hospital as doctors."
Qiao Baozhu looked at Shen Xiao in shock, she didn’t expect his mind to be so open.
"Why are you so surprised?"
Shen Xiao looked at Qiao Baozhu's shocked expression and chuckled softly.
"You don't think that we soldiers are all closed-minded, do you? Do you think that our wives will abandon their husbands and children just because they are studying abroad, seeing the world, and meeting outstanding male classmates?"
Qiao Baozhu nodded hesitantly.
Shen Xiao sneered, "Anyone who dares to disrupt a military marriage will be shot. Moreover, if you are known to have bad conduct, you will lose your job. Who would be so careless as to sacrifice their whole life for a moment of lust?"
It is precisely because the sunk cost is so high that no one dares to take the risk.
Qiao Baozhu was very suspicious, and Shen Xiao used this to warn her that divorcing him was not as easy as she thought.
However, Qiao Baozhu disagreed. According to the timeline of her previous life, Shen Xiao would take off his military uniform in less than half a year.
Even if Shen Xiao keeps the job, if Qiao Baozhu wants a divorce, she has plenty of ways to do it.
The speed of laying wires in the family compound was very fast. When Qiao Baozhu went out to work in the morning, she saw the communications soldiers laying wires at the gate.
Qiao Baozhu turned and walked into the service center. Before she could say anything, the salesperson smiled and asked, "Comrade, do you want to buy a light bulb?"
"Are the customers in front here all buying light bulbs?"
Qiao Baozhu looked around and laughed, and found that there were no other customers in the service center except her.
"No, you're the first customer today. I guessed. Aren't you going to install electrical wires in the military family compound?"
The salesperson couldn't help laughing when he saw Qiao Baozhu was dressed stylishly and spoke in a gentle and emphasizing way.
"Your guess is quite accurate then. I am indeed here to buy light bulbs."
When the salesperson heard that Qiao Baozhu was indeed here to buy light bulbs, he quickly patted the box on the counter.
"I have several types of light bulbs, including 15-watt, 25-watt and 40-watt. We have cheap and expensive ones. We also have a small number of high-pressure mercury bulbs. These are high-end products sent from Shenyang. They are much brighter than ordinary tungsten filament lamps."
Qiao Baozhu noticed several boxes of light bulbs on the counter and blurted out, "The wires haven't even been pulled yet, and you've already prepared the light bulbs?"
The salesperson said proudly, "Our manager knows the military leaders. If we don't prepare light bulbs and pull-cord switches, you won't dare to pull wires in the family compound."
So that's how it is. Qiao Baozhu didn't feel surprised. This kind of thing has been common from ancient times to the present. Qiao Baozhu shut up tactfully and did not ask which leader had such connections.
"Then we have to thank your manager. Without him, we don't know when we will have electricity in the family compound."
Qiao Baozhu complimented with a smile, but the salesperson didn't hear the sarcasm in her words. She felt proud to see that even an officer's wife like Qiao Baozhu thought her leader was capable.
He raised his head proudly and said with a smug look on his face: "Our manager is really amazing."
"Let me put it this way. Originally, 10 households in your compound shared one meter box. The meter box was shipped back in the summer, but our manager said something and the issue of the wires has been delayed until now."
Qiao Baozhu raised her eyebrows, "Oh? What are you talking about that is so powerful?"
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