The second cannon fodder in the "lucky koi stepmother" story - first update, muah...
The blind date between Chen Xia and Su Yuanchao was faster than anyone expected. Who would have thought that the marriage would be settled after just one meeting?
Even the matchmaker, Li Meihua, felt a little dizzy, and couldn't help but sigh that the two were truly a match made in heaven, one daring to speak and the other daring to respond.
That afternoon, Su Yuanchao jogged to find his superior and handed in his marriage application.
Fortunately, Chen Xia came with Li Meihua this time to get married. Before leaving, Li Meihua took her to the brigade to get a letter of introduction and a certificate, which were stamped with an official seal, so the procedures were complete.
The background check process went exceptionally smoothly. Because of the long distance, the military contacted the hometown, and staff visited the village. After that, everything went smoothly, and the approval was granted quickly.
The day after the marriage certificate was approved, Su Yuanchao put on a military uniform that, although old, was washed and clean, with even the collar ironed neatly.
Chen Xia also wore her best, slightly worn blue cotton jacket, and her hair was neatly combed. The two of them walked together to get their marriage certificate.
The marriage certificate nowadays is just a thin piece of paper with red words and a seal. Su Yuanchao took it, looked at it carefully again and again, and then carefully folded it and put it into his pocket.
The wedding ceremony was very simple; it was held in a small, unused meeting room in the military base, with just a few chairs.
Witnessed by the unit leaders and several of their closest comrades in the Soviet aid-to-Korea company, they became revolutionary partners.
There was no banquet, only hot tea, pre-prepared fruit candies, and roasted melon seeds. Everyone sat together, drank tea, ate some melon seeds, had a couple of candies, and exchanged a few simple blessings. That was how the marriage was considered complete.
Su Yuanchao knew in his heart that his marriage was made possible thanks to his aunt, Li Meihua. Although his family was not well-off, he still did his best to give Li Meihua a generous red envelope as a thank-you gift for the matchmaker.
Li Meihua held the heavy red envelope, beaming with joy, and kept praising Su Yuanchao for being sensible and Chen Xia for being lucky.
But thinking of her nephew Li Mingliang, she couldn't help but feel another headache coming on. She had spent the money but hadn't gotten a wife. How was she going to explain this to Li Mingliang's parents when she got back? It was really worrying her to death!
Su Yuanchao was in high spirits, but Li Mingliang was extremely frustrated. He felt a lump in his throat, unable to breathe, which made him feel very uncomfortable.
He thought that with his aunt involved, his remarriage was a sure thing, and he even prepared a new quilt in advance.
Unexpectedly, the money was spent, only to benefit someone else in the end. He was puzzled; apart from being taller and younger than him, what else about Su Yuanchao could compare to him?
In terms of salary, he earns more than 130 yuan a month, which is several tens of yuan more than Su Yuanchao!
In terms of official rank, he was a proper battalion commander, while Su Yuanchao was just a lowly company commander.
Yes, he was married and had three children, but didn't Su Yuanchao also have two hungry mouths waiting to be fed?
Is the burden on his younger siblings any lighter than that on his three biological sons? Why did Chen Xia choose Su Yuanchao instead of him?
The more he thought about it, the more resentful he became, and his gaze involuntarily drifted to Chen Mo's house next door. That Chen Mo kid really got incredibly lucky; just thinking about it made him grit his teeth in anger!
A widower with five children managed to marry such a beautiful and educated high school student as his second wife.
Ever since he accidentally glimpsed the photo tucked in Chen Mo's wallet, Li Mingliang felt a pang of bitterness and unease in his heart.
Why can Chen Mo find such a respectable second wife, but Li Mingliang can't? He doesn't think he's any worse than Chen Mo!
He secretly vowed to marry a second wife who was even more outstanding and beautiful than Jiang Ning, and to win back the face he had lost this time! But ideals are lofty, while reality is harsh.
Feeling guilty, Li Meihua put in a lot of effort and introduced him to several more potential partners.
It's not that she's burly and dark-skinned, which doesn't fit his ideal of presentable women; it's that she's average-looking but has high expectations, complaining that he has too many children and is too spoiled.
There's another one who, before anything even happened, started pointing fingers and telling him to send his three children, especially his youngest son who's still breastfeeding, back to his rural hometown to be raised.
If he were willing to send the children away, he would have done so long ago. Why wait until now?
Why did he get married? Wasn't it so that someone could take good care of these three motherless children, allowing him to work with peace of mind?
These women can't even do this most basic thing, yet they want to marry him and enjoy a life of luxury? Keep dreaming.
The situation remained at a stalemate. Li Mingliang was extremely busy in the army during the day, training, attending meetings, and handling various affairs.
When he got home in the evening, he was overwhelmed by his three crying and naughty sons, especially the youngest who was still hungry.
Washing clothes, cooking, cleaning the house, changing the baby's diapers... these trivial tasks wore him down to the point that his eyes were sunken and his lips were blistered. He soon couldn't take it anymore.
The pressure of reality weighed on him like a mountain, leaving him no choice but to lower and lower his standards for finding a partner time and time again.
Finally, after repeated persuasion and matchmaking by his former leader and several enthusiastic comrades, he almost reluctantly agreed to meet a widow named Wang Li.
Wang Li is a family member of a soldier whose husband died in a mission a year ago.
She and her five-year-old daughter were rejected by her patriarchal in-laws and cruelly kicked out.
Thanks to the help of her husband's former comrades, who found her a temporary job selling goods at the island's service center, the mother and daughter finally had a place to stay and could barely make ends meet.
Li Mingliang was extremely unwilling to marry a widow, feeling that it would be a loss of face and that he would be inferior to her.
Moreover, Wang Li looked thin and small, with an unhealthy yellow complexion, and looked like she could be blown away by the wind. She didn't seem like someone who could endure hardship and support a family.
But he had no other choice now, and the matchmaker was personally introduced by the political commissar's wife, so he couldn't refuse her request.
He pondered this for days, scattering cigarette butts all over the place, but finally gritted his teeth and married Wang Li. He didn't dare expect much else, just hoping she could help look after the children and cook a hot meal for him.
In Li Mingliang's family, his eldest son Li Hongwei is eight years old and his second son Li Hongqi is six years old. They are at the age when even dogs would hate them, being naughty and mischievous, never able to stay still for a moment.
His youngest son, Li Hongjun, is only three months old. After his ex-wife died in childbirth, his youngest son has been fostered by his neighbor, Sister Guo, across the hall.
Guo's husband is the battalion commander of the Third Battalion. Both of their sons are in elementary school, so they have a little more free time.
He told everyone that it was just neighbors helping out, but Li Mingliang knew in his heart that he had to send money for milk powder and a fee for his hard work to Guo's family every month without fail, and he had accumulated a lot of debts of gratitude.
And so, Wang Li, with her five-year-old daughter Zhang Qian, married Li Mingliang and became the stepmother of three boys.
As you can imagine, married life was chaotic and disorderly almost immediately.
The two older boys were full of hostility and rejection towards their new stepmother and this suddenly appearing "sister," and they tried every means to cause trouble and cry.
The youngest son, due to the sudden change in environment, cried incessantly all day long. Li Mingliang's remarried life was shrouded in a thick shadow from the very beginning.
With his youngest son crying incessantly, Li Mingliang's remarriage was shrouded in shadow from the very beginning.
Wang Li appears to be gentle and quiet on the surface, always greeting people with a smile, but in reality, she is quite calculating.
Although Li Mingliang had a bad temper, he was straightforward and no match for her. She quickly got the family matters under her control.
Under Wang Li's intentional or unintentional nagging, complaining, and guidance, Li Mingliang became increasingly displeased with his eldest son Li Hongwei and second son Li Hongqi. He felt that the two were naughty, immature, and always causing trouble for him. He would beat or scold them in daily life and rarely gave them a kind look.
Compared to Li Mingliang, who was short-tempered and prone to slapping others, Wang Li was undoubtedly a patient, considerate, and kind-hearted stepmother in the eyes of her neighbors and outsiders.
Since she entered the family, Li Hongjun, the third son of the Li family, has been kept clean and tidy. His little clothes are always neat and clean, and his little face has become rounder and plumper day by day.
Although he's only a few months old, his cleverness and big, bright eyes make everyone who sees him praise him, saying, "This child is so well raised," and adding, "Mingliang's family is so virtuous and knows how to take care of a child."
But what was the reality? Wang Li was deliberately putting on an act for outsiders and for Li Mingliang, while secretly sowing discord between her youngest son and his two older brothers.
Li Hongwei and Li Hongqi originally doted on their younger brother, whom they shared the same mother with, and used to often come over and tease him.
But ever since Wang Li entered the house, she has clearly shown indifference and disregard towards the two brothers, while showing great care and attention to the younger brother. The two children gradually developed resentment and a grudge against each other.
She grew increasingly annoyed with her little brother, who was pampered by his stepmother and constantly cried and complained. She felt he was putting on an act and stealing the little attention he already received.
Gradually, Li Hongjun became a thorn in the side of his two older brothers.
In corners where Li Mingliang couldn't see, the two of them would deliberately push and shove the small bamboo cart that Li Hongjun was sitting in, or secretly pinch and twist his chubby arms and legs.
Wang Li pretended not to see any of this, and occasionally, after Li Mingliang returned home, she would inadvertently mention the complaints of her two stepsons: "Hongwei and Hongqi beat the Red Army again today without knowing their own strength, making the Red Army cry for a long time."
Sigh, boys are just like that, they don't know their own strength. Let me tell you, don't hit them so easily, try to reason with them..."
Just when things were in chaos and turmoil at the Li family's place, Jiang Ning, the "other people's stepmother" whom Li Mingliang secretly compared himself to and who made him feel sour, arrived at the military family compound on the island from her hometown with her five stepchildren.
She was bright and cheerful, always smiling before she even spoke. Wearing a brand-new women's watch, she quickly became the new focus of attention for the aunties and sisters-in-law in the residential compound.
She seemed to be able to pull out a few rare White Rabbit milk candies from her pocket anytime, anywhere, and give them to the children who were staring at her eagerly, easily winning over a large group of little ones.
The aroma of her cooking could waft far and wide, and she was always generous and poised in her interactions with others. It seemed that no matter how difficult the situation, she could easily and skillfully resolve it.
Before long, Jiang Ning's reputation steadily surpassed Wang Li's, and she became the most dazzling, kindest, and gentle stepmother in the compound.
At this moment, in the Su family's small courtyard, which was simple but exceptionally clean and tidy, Chen Xia was instructing Su Yuanchao to brew a beauty cream.
The wind is strong and the sun is scorching on the island. The original owner's body hadn't been properly healed, and after a few months, her cheeks were red and dry from the wind, and felt rough to the touch.
If it were just her alone, she could recover by slowly conditioning herself with the spiritual spring water and taking some beauty pills.
But when she looked down at her two little followers, Su Manyun and Su Weiguo, her face was flushed from the sea breeze and covered in tiny cracks that looked painful. This made her feel a little uncomfortable.
I coaxed the little system into customizing a beauty cream recipe from the trading group that was extremely low in cost but had outstanding effects.
The main ingredient is the seaweed that is most commonly found on the rocky side of this island, which can be caught in large quantities, plus a few cheap and inconspicuous auxiliary ingredients, such as clam shell powder, honey, and lard.
The finished ointment has a semi-transparent, gelatinous texture, looks crystal clear, and feels moisturizing when applied to the skin.
It can effectively nourish the skin and relieve dryness. After using it for a few days, your complexion will visibly improve.
After trying to make it once, Chen Xia handed the important task over to Su Yuanchao. Making the beauty cream wasn't difficult, but it required constant stirring. After making it once, she felt like her arms were about to break from exhaustion.
During his day off, Su Yuanchao tended the small stove and, following the steps Chen Xia had taught him, clumsily but with exceptional seriousness, stirred the gradually thickening paste in the pot.
A faint, peculiar fragrance filled the air, though the color didn't appear as clear as the brewed tea by Chen Xia.
Fearing that his homemade ointment might not meet the standards, Su Yuanchao volunteered to use himself as a test subject. Every day before and after morning exercises, he would scoop out a little and carefully apply it to his dark, rough, and even somewhat chapped face.
After using it for a few days, the effect was unexpectedly good. His face was no longer chapped or cracked, it felt smooth to the touch, and it was visibly whiter and more tender.
Several of his closest company commanders, who were training with him, gathered around to look at him and couldn't help but nudge him with their elbows, asking with winks and quizzes: "Hey, Lao Su, tell the truth, did you steal your sister-in-law's face cream? How come your face is so white and tender? You're almost as young as a young woman!"
Su Yuanchao was secretly pleased, but kept a straight face and told them how his family had made a kind of face oil that was very effective.
The news spread quickly, and by the afternoon, several familiar women came to my door with gifts of eggs or vegetables to inquire about the beauty cream.
It wasn't anything valuable, but Chen Xia accepted it all. Whoever wanted it, she would use a clean spoon to scoop a small piece from the jar, wrap it in oil paper, and let them take it home to try.
The results were naturally good. Within a few days, even more people came to ask about it, and some even inquired whether they could copy down the recipe so they could make it themselves.
Chen Xia wrote down the entire recipe and handed it to Su Yuanchao: "You made this beauty cream yourself, and you know the process; it's not complicated."
The ingredients used are all cheap and common from the seaside. A bucket of seaweed is enough to make a pot, it just takes a little effort.
You should hand it over to the military leadership. Ideally, they could build a factory or small workshop to mass-produce it and sell it, which would also bring some income to the military.
"I also copied another recipe below. If you replace a few of the auxiliary ingredients with specific Chinese herbs, it can be turned into an anti-inflammatory and analgesic ointment that is very effective for bruises, swelling, and insect bites."
You should submit it along with the textbook, so that the experts in the military who know what they're doing can try it out and study it; maybe it will come in handy."
She paused, as if remembering something, and added in a softer voice, "My mother mentioned it before. It seems to be an old remedy passed down from my maternal grandparents. I don't know if it's accurate, but let's give it a try."
Su Yuanchao was surprised that Chen Xia would ask him to hand over the prescription. He held the paper in his hand, feeling a little warm inside and a little embarrassed.
"Since it's an old recipe passed down from my maternal grandparents, it must be very precious. Is it really appropriate to just hand it over like this?"
"How about we brew some ourselves, or exchange some for other things on a small scale?"
Chen Xia reached out and straightened his military uniform collar: "I originally just wanted to make some face oil for my own use, but I didn't expect it to be so effective, attracting so many people to inquire about it."
If we keep this recipe in our own hands, there's no guarantee that someone won't covet it, and it wouldn't be good if it caused trouble.
Rather than being passive later, let's take the initiative to contribute to the army. We should at least give you a commendation, right?
If you do a good job and get promoted, you can better protect the three of us, and our family's life will be better and more stable. Think about it, which is more worthwhile?
Looking into her bright eyes, Su Yuanchao's hesitation vanished instantly, replaced by warmth and admiration.
He nodded emphatically: "Okay, I'll listen to you. I'll go find the leader right now!"
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