Chapter 57 "Have I taken good care of you?"...
Chapter 57 "Have I taken good care of you?"
Li Yue discovered a problem: Ling Jianwei wasn't in such a hurry to have a child. The evidence was that he only talked about it, but actually habitually took the child outside.
When asked, the man remained calm and said, "What's the rush? Take your time. If you can win this way, then it's fate."
Li Yue glanced at him: "You just crave the comfort of having no obstacles."
He gave a very calm "Ah?" and said, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Seeing that he wasn't in a hurry, Li Yue was even less anxious.
But she's currently unemployed and has nothing to do; after a while, she'll really get bored.
During the summer, she went back to the family compound. Her uncle's house was so crowded that there wasn't enough room for everyone, so her cousin Du Qinglan had to stay in the multi-person dormitory at the cotton mill and only go home for a meal on Sundays.
Her aunt hoped she would get married soon so she could have her own home and wouldn't have to squeeze into a dormitory. She even asked Li Yue to introduce her to a potential partner.
But whenever the topic comes up, my cousin says, "I don't want to get married, besides, I'm still so young."
Her aunt retorted, "You're already 22, aren't you old enough?"
When the topic came up, Li Yue privately asked her cousin, "Do you have a boyfriend?"
When her cousin remained silent, Li Yue sensed that she was pretty much right and asked, "Is your boyfriend your classmate? Is he still a sent-down youth?"
My cousin then spoke up: "We're back now. We have nothing. How can we get married?"
"What do you need? If you two work hard together, slowly, you'll have everything."
That is certainly true of this era.
My cousin said, "He has to be the one to bring it up. How can I take the initiative?"
Even her usually sharp-tongued cousin became confused at this moment. Li Yue said, "You can bring it up tactfully, for example, by asking him if he has thought about the future. If he gives a perfunctory answer or doesn't give a definite answer, then you should break up with him."
cousin:"……"
Seeing her cousin's surprised look, Li Yue said, "A man who can't give a straight answer has no responsibility and is indecisive. Of course, you can't have him."
My cousin said dejectedly, "Let me ask."
"Don't be shy. You could mention it to him that you want to take him home to meet your parents and see how he reacts. If he agrees to meet your parents, things will be easier, and your parents will take care of the rest."
My cousin remained silent.
Li Yue became worried: "Is their family large? If you marry into their family, will you have nowhere to live?"
“Eight people, crammed into a small house in a crowded courtyard,” my cousin said with difficulty. “He was my classmate, and when we were on the same farm, he took good care of me.”
"Why didn't you tell me in your letters that you had found a boyfriend? Gu Yanmei didn't give me any hint either," Li Yue asked.
"I didn't get together with him right away. He only asked me if I wanted to date him after he found a way to return to the city." My usually carefree cousin blushed at this moment.
Li Yue analyzed, "Judging from this, he seems to be a responsible young man, only asking you after returning to the city."
My cousin said, "He is indeed a good person, but his family is not well-off. He was able to return to the city because his father asked around and helped him find a job in a steel factory."
Li Yue asked worriedly, "Then does he still have to support his family?"
"Of course we want to. My four younger siblings are still small, and besides, we have nothing. If I tell my mom, she probably won't agree."
Looking at her cousin's helpless face, Li Yue asked her, "Do you like him?"
My cousin gave a soft "hmm".
It was rare to see her cousin blushing, so Li Yue sighed, "Being poor isn't important; everyone's poor these days. What matters is whether a person is ambitious, responsible, and devoted to you. That's what really matters."
Besides, the difficulties are temporary. Li Yue has always felt that her cousin is very suitable for doing business. After the reform and opening up, if she could give her some pointers, she would definitely be able to make a lot of money.
My cousin suddenly looked at Li Yue and murmured, "Sister, you seem to have matured a lot."
Li Yue paused for a moment: "I've been married for over four years, of course I'm more mature now."
After explaining things to her cousin, Li Yue sat on the bus back to the compound, watching the scenery flash by. Lost in thought, she realized that she had been married to Ling Jianwei for over four years, and soon it would be the seven-year itch.
The seven-year itch, will they experience it?
That night, Li Yue nestled against him and asked, "If this goes on for too long, will we start arguing?"
He said, "Didn't we already have a fight?"
"Huh? We had a fight?"
He looked at her silently.
Li Yue thought for a moment: "Was it the time you questioned me?"
"What else can I do?" he said helplessly.
"The main thing is that I don't think it looks like an argument."
Ling Jianwei hugged her and pressed her head into the crook of her neck: "If you want to experience that kind of loud and boisterous argument, that's a bit difficult."
Li Yue asked in a muffled voice, "Why? Don't you like arguing like this?"
"Do you like it?"
Li Yue shook her head.
He asked in confusion, "Then why are we suddenly talking about this topic today?"
"Nothing much, it's just that I was thinking that we've been married for five years now. People say that bickering can make a lifelong relationship, but I'm worried that if we never argue, it's not good either. Maybe one day we'll have a big fight and something terrible will happen..."
He didn't let her finish speaking, covering her mouth with his hand and his face darkened: "I think you're looking for a fight right now. Come on, let's have a fight?"
Li Yue: "What's the commotion?"
"They pick on me, say they don't like me, and then I get angry."
Li Yue: "Ling Jianwei, I don't like you."
What do you not like about me?
She thought for a moment: "I don't like that you won't let me find a job."
He clicked his tongue: "What if you get pregnant while looking for a job?"
"You can work even if you're pregnant."
The man's face continued to darken: "No, I'll worry."
"But I'm not pregnant yet."
Ling Jianwei asked, puzzled, "You've only just returned, can't you wait a bit?"
"It's mainly because I'm so bored. You have things to do, but I suddenly have nothing to do and I can't sit still."
"Are you drawing?"
"I haven't used a drawing pen in so long, my skills have become rusty, and I don't want to draw anymore after just a couple of strokes."
"I'll find you a teacher so you can practice drawing."
Ling Jianwei found someone without hesitation, and the person she found was a teacher from an art academy who had been sent to a cadre school a few years ago and only returned last year. His name was Xie Cun.
Ling Jianwei took her to visit Teacher Xie.
Teacher Xie's ancestors were officials, and his family lived in a small courtyard house. He also studied abroad and later taught oil painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Although he has returned from the cadre school, the academy has no students, and he is over fifty years old, making it difficult to find work, so he has been staying at home.
Since he had nothing better to do, and seeing that Li Yue had good aptitude, he took her in as his last disciple.
Li Yue formally became an apprentice and began to hone her artistic skills.
But Teacher Xie discovered that Li Yue herself was very knowledgeable about porcelain, and could also throw pottery, mix glazes, and fire kilns. She spoke about porcelain with great expertise, so he said, "Let's see who teaches whom."
Li Yue said, "I learned this from my work experience, but I need to improve my art skills. My oil painting skills are very weak, so of course you will teach me."
Teacher Xie sighed, "If universities were still recruiting students, you could study systematically and perhaps become a ceramic master in the future. Our college doesn't have a ceramics major yet, but we do have related courses, and some teachers are researching this topic."
Li Yue smiled and said, "Teacher, I'll apply again when enrollment resumes."
When these things are mentioned, Teacher Xie can only sigh: "It's been ages since then."
Li Yue did some mental calculations and realized that there were only four years left.
Since becoming an apprentice, Li Yue has had something to do, gets along well with her teacher's family, and feels much more at ease.
One day, my cousin brought her boyfriend home to meet her parents. My uncle and aunt thought the young man was sensible, hardworking, and had a job, so they decided to get married.
Their wedding date was set for National Day.
Li Yue had visited their home with her cousin. It was a large courtyard house in a hutong, and their home was only about 20 square meters, but they had to squeeze in eight people.
She couldn't help but ask worriedly, "Is your wedding room here too?"
My cousin said, "No, neither of us has a single room in the dormitory. We plan to rent a single room outside first. If the factory can allocate housing in the future, things will get better."
Li Yue pursed her lips and nodded: "It will definitely be alright."
While going to bed, Li Yue brought up the matter with Ling Jianwei, saying with a heavy heart, "Seeing my cousin's optimistic spirit, I feel inexplicably sad."
"What's making you sad?" He patted her head.
Li Yue said, "I guess I'm just lucky to have met you. You have a good family background and a good job, so I don't have to worry about making a living."
He laughed: "Now you think I'm pretty good?"
When did I ever think you were bad?
He hugged her, but asked, "If I were an ordinary person, without a wealthy family background, and not an officer, but just a soldier with elderly parents and young children, would you still be willing to be with me?"
Unexpectedly, he would ask such a hypothetical question one day. Li Yue's voice turned cold: "I'm still a capitalist's daughter, would you dare to marry me?"
"You're so beautiful, who wouldn't want to marry you? I'll go to any lengths to marry you, no matter what."
Li Yue poked his cheek: "How dare you talk such nonsense. I'm very picky. It's not enough for you to just be handsome. You have to be able to support me, a capitalist's daughter. You're just an ordinary soldier. How are you going to support me?"
The man gritted his teeth: "Then I'll kidnap you first and we'll talk about it later."
"Trafficking women is a serious crime..."
After some small talk, he nuzzled his chin against her face and asked, "Have I taken good care of you these past few years?"
Li Yue's voice was very low: "They are being raised very, very well."
"Then why are you still so thin?"
"This is a matter of physical constitution."
...
My cousin's wedding day is getting closer and closer. It's not convenient to hold a banquet in their big courtyard. They originally said they wouldn't hold a banquet, but Li Yue didn't want her cousin to get married like that, so she booked a restaurant for them and set up ten tables. Li Yue sponsored half of the deposit for the banquet, and the other half was paid by the two families.
Ling Jianwei asked, "When we got married, you didn't want to have a banquet, but why are you insisting on having one for your cousin?"
Li Yue said, "I don't need to have a wedding banquet because I know I don't have to worry about anything when I'm with you, but my cousin's situation is different from mine. I don't want her to not have a decent wedding."
Ling Jianwei nodded slightly: "This answer leaves me speechless."
She's been busy with her cousin's wedding lately, leaving early and returning late every day. After washing up, she goes straight to sleep.
Ling Jianwei sensed something was wrong and asked her if she was sick.
She said she wasn't sick, just felt very tired and just wanted to sleep, and that she would feel better after the wedding.
In matters like this, he cared more about her feelings and, knowing she wasn't feeling well, wouldn't force her.
On National Day, my cousin wore a brand-new red autumn dress and applied rouge and lipstick. The bride looked radiant and festive, which put Li Yue at ease.
At the restaurant, her cousin and her partner came to offer a toast. Li Yue took a sip of the wine, but found the taste too unpalatable to swallow, so she didn't drink it. When no one was looking, she quietly spat it back into her glass.
Ling Jianwei noticed that her expression was off and asked what was wrong.
She said, "This beer tastes nauseating."
Someone nearby said, "I don't like beer either; it feels like drinking swill."
Li Yue: "Right?"
Only Ling Jianwei frowned.
Before the banquet was even over, he told them he had something to do and pulled her into the car.
Li Yue asked, puzzled, "Why are you in such a hurry to leave? It's not over yet."
He gave her a meaningful look: "I can't wait."
"What are you so eager to do?"
"Go to the hospital."
Li Yue was startled: "Are you feeling unwell?"
"You're not feeling well."
"I don't feel unwell."
The man, steering the wheel, smiled slightly: "At least we need to go to the hospital to confirm whether it's truly fate."
Li Yue: "!"
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