Chapter 51

Yan Lei didn’t expect that Captain Zhao would chase him and ask if he was short of money or if something happened at home.

Yan Lei: “?”

“Isn’t that… why are my sister-in-law wearing homespun?” Captain Zhao said, “Last night when I entered your yard, I thought someone’s old lady came to visit.”

Yan Lei: “…”

Although Yan Lei knew that Qiao Wei had really changed her ways after that incident and wanted to live a down-to-earth life with him. But he actually didn’t quite understand the direction of her aesthetic change.

It was very puzzling.

But, husband and wife are one.

“No, there is no difficulty with money.” He straightened his hat and said, “It’s just that recently she and I… have learned to communicate very well. The two of us… have made progress together.”

Negative distance communication.

Make rapid progress in some aspects, and open up a new world together.

It is true that Xiao Qiao, the female comrade, had a strong petty-bourgeois mentality in the past. How could Captain Zhao, who had such a good relationship with Yan Lei, not know about this?

Hearing this, he was very happy for him.

"It should have been like this a long time ago. She is also a child of the working class. How could she be so spoiled?"

"But it doesn't matter. It's good that she can change. You scared me. I thought something happened in your family. You are so simple. Tell your sister-in-law that you don't have to be so hard on yourself. It's okay to be more or less. After all, we are also a cadre family. We have earned this good life with our blood. Eat what you need and wear what you need."

"Her progress is...how do you say it? It's seen by everyone? No, it's seen by everyone?"

Yan Lei: "... seen by everyone."

He was sure that it was seen by everyone. He has read it more than once in the book he has read recently. In fact, as long as he reads it once, he can remember it. After reading it two or three times, he will remember it firmly.

In other words, his vocabulary has indeed improved recently.

"Yes, yes, tell Xiao Qiao that her progress is obvious to all!" Captain Zhao said earnestly, "If you can stop washing dishes, she will have no shortcomings."

When he got home, he first told Sister Yang about the salary increase.

Sister Yang was very happy.

Then he told Sister Yang that Captain Fan did not increase his salary.

Sister Yang was happier to hear that Xia Hehua's man did not increase his salary than to hear that her man did.

"It's right!" She laughed and scolded.

Captain Zhao also mentioned that Commander Pan was going to carry out a rectification movement and asked the cadres to restrain their families: "He didn't mention any names, but everyone knows that the person he scolded was Fan Shigui."

"I heard that he was called over to scold him after we left last night. It seemed that Fan Shigui beat his wife when he got home."

"Although Xia Hehua deserved to be beaten, it would be better for me to do it." Sister Yang spat, "A man who beats his wife is a loser."

Finally, Captain Zhao said, "Xiao Yan is fine, he is not short of money."

As a man, although the fact that Yan Lei washed the dishes was particularly disappointing, Captain Zhao had to save his face for him. He put his hands on his waist and said, "Oh, you guys finally conquered Xiao Qiao. Now Qiao has changed her appearance and looks like a real daughter of the proletariat, emphasizing hardship and simplicity."

"So that's how it is. Well, I was worried." Sister Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

The couple both felt good.

Xiao Qiao used to feel cold and distant, but now she is wearing a set of homespun clothes and cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles, which makes people feel particularly friendly.

"Don't tell me, who in the village can dress as beautifully as she does." Sister Yang praised, "It's obviously the same clothes, but she wears it differently."

Moreover, even though she is dressed like this, no one will think she is a villager.

It's strange, no matter how she dresses, she looks like a city girl. Others can't learn that.

"Oh, why should I thank Xiao Qiao for this?" Sister Yang pondered.

If she were alone, she would probably just have a big fight with Xia Hehua and slap each other. That wouldn't be such a good result, making people happy from the bottom of their hearts.

"Saturday! Call Yan and his wife, let's go out to eat!" Captain Zhao had just received a salary increase and was in high spirits.

"Yes!"

Gangzi ran to Yan Lei's house: "Uncle Yan, Uncle Yan."

Yan Lei came out and saw: "Gangzi, come in and have some fruit."

"No." Gangzi waved his hand, "My parents asked me to come over and tell you not to cook tomorrow night. My dad said he wants to invite you and aunt to go out to eat."

"What for?" Yan Lei laughed, "Celebrate his salary increase?"

"I don't know, anyway, it's fine to go out to eat." Gangzi was also very happy, raised the one yuan in his hand, "I'll go to the restaurant to say hello and put down the deposit."

Going out to eat is a luxury. Although there are many military families in the town, there is a canteen in the compound, so the frequency of going out to eat is not high.

Especially when there are many people, you have to make a reservation in advance so that the restaurant can prepare the goods. Otherwise, there might be a situation where there is nothing.

Just now, I greeted Yan Lei and happily went to make a reservation with the one-dollar bill in my hand.

Yan Lei turned around and told Qiao Wei: "Tomorrow, Lao Zhao will treat us to a meal."

"I heard it, I'm not deaf." Qiao Wei said with a smile, "It's a salary increase, we should celebrate."

Captain Zhao and Sister Yang talked about a lot of things, and Yan Lei told Qiao Wei almost the same thing when he got home.

He also took the opportunity to tell Qiao Wei some things about the internal affairs of the army when talking about Captain Zhao's salary increase.

For example, even though they are both captains, they are divided into genuine captains and fake captains.

"It's not so obvious since the abolition of military titles," he said. "When there were still military titles, the ranks of the fake ones were lower than the official ones, and you can see it at a glance."

Of course, there are many complicated historical reasons.

In short, Yan Lei and Captain Zhao are both official captains. Captain Fan is a fake captain. He originally wanted to narrow the gap by using this salary rating. He had made all the arrangements, but he didn't expect that it would be ruined at the end.

"Commander Pan is right. If a cadre doesn't even have the ability to restrain his family, he might as well not do it." Qiao Wei said.

In the news of later generations, I have seen too many cases of cadres' family members accepting bribes, and the cadres were crying and it seemed that they all blamed their wives. It's so funny, did he die when his wife took the money? Is he blind to have so much extra money at home?

Yan Lei said, "I am assured of you."

I was relieved before.

Although she had a bad reputation before, she never bullied others or took advantage of others. She was just cold, aloof, and didn't like to deal with people.

Now, after finding her back, in just half a month, Yan Lei has developed a strong sense of trust in the person in front of him and feels that she is a reliable person.

He thought that maybe she had always been unable to get over the fact that she married a farmer, so she lived a negative life.

Now, she has figured it out, and started to face marriage actively and live a good life. Her qualities and abilities as a cultured person have begun to show.

Yesterday at Teacher Pan's house, she was obviously dressed very simply, even more simply than Sister Yang, who was wearing a flowered shirt. She was wearing a plain cloth, but when she recounted what happened to Teacher Pan, she was open-minded, calm and composed. At

that moment, Yan Lei felt so amazed.

The cultured woman he imagined was embodied in her at this moment.

It was not the so-called foreign style that was packaged by shaking cloth and leather shoes, but an attractive temperament that radiated from the inside out.

At that time, Yan Lei quickly glanced at the crowd.

He saw that Teacher Pan had admiration in his eyes. Not to mention the guards.

The old Zhao couple also showed an expression of "she is indeed a cultured person" on their faces.

At this moment, Yan Lei felt extremely satisfied somewhere in his heart.

Old Zhao was still muttering to him about whether to wash the dishes or not.

It's really funny. If any daughter-in-law is like this, they will have to wash the dishes.

Just when Qiao Wei was feeling proud, she said, "I want to talk to you about something."

Yan Lei: "?"

After he came over, Qiao Wei pointed at the sunbed and asked, "Is it you who put the blue mattress in the middle every day?"

Yan Lei immediately reacted and was surprised: "You put it on the side?"

He thought it was Yan Xiang.

He thought it was the child who didn't know how to put it in order. There are three mattresses, two of the same color and one of a different color, so of course the one of a different color should be placed in the middle.

Yan Lei's old-fashioned style sometimes really makes Qiao Wei laugh.

Yan Lei was confused: "Isn't it wrong to put it in the middle? Why put it on one side? It's so messy."

Qiao Wei thought about it and felt that she had to start from the beginning: "In fact, we Chinese have always emphasized following the laws of nature. For example, the mountains and rivers in the gardens are made to look as natural as possible..."

Qiao Wei gave Yan Lei a lecture for nearly ten minutes, making it clear to him that aesthetics is not just one kind.

Yan Lei seemed to be thinking about something. He held his chin and looked Qiao Wei up and down.

Qiao Wei: "...What are you looking at?"

"Your clothes," Yan Lei said, "When I first saw them yesterday, I thought they were what the village ladies wore. Actually, when I looked at them later, I felt that they were a little different from what the village ladies wore. I can't tell how they were different."

Qiao Wei listened with great interest.

Yan Lei was encouraged and expressed his feelings: "After listening to you talk about these things, I feel that this dress and this mattress are very comfortable when paired with them." There

were even straw sandals hanging on the wall that he had always disliked. Now, at first glance, Qiao Wei was in the picture. She was sitting on a sunbed, leaning against the mattress, with a straw hat and straw sandals on the wall above her head.

The straw hat was wrapped with an indigo strip of homespun cloth and tied into a bow.

All those things that were incomprehensible when placed separately were now combined in one field of vision. Yan Lei suddenly felt that it was like a painting.

The theme of this painting is comfort and relaxation.

It makes people feel...

he said, "It's comfortable for the eyes."

Yan Lei didn't know yet that under Qiao Wei's guidance, his tolerance of thought had taken a step forward a little faster than this society.

In the past, he only knew that steamed buns were edible, but now he knows that rice is also delicious.

Qiao Wei certainly understands.

How important is this matter? Because the world will soon become either black or white, either beneficial or harmful, and unipolar thinking and ideology will fill every corner and leave people nowhere to hide. No

matter how carefully she hides and blends in, it is impossible to completely erase the things that are incompatible with this era.

It would be suffocating for her to live with a man like that.

Qiao Wei's eyes sparkled, and she stood up happily, holding onto Yan Lei's shoulders, and stood on tiptoe to kiss him.

The old-fashioned man panicked and turned his head to look.

Fortunately, his son was squatting there playing with the sand pit, and he didn't look up.

Yan Lei lowered his voice and scolded: "Don't be crazy, let the child see!"

Qiao Wei glanced at Yan Xiang.

Yan Xiang, a very unusual child, now has no conditions to learn knowledge, but instead shows interest in the simplest, boring and repetitive things.

For example, digging a hole, other children are interested in it for a while, dig a few shovels and then throw them there after they are satisfied.

Yan Xiang, however, even carefully planned his daily workload. When he is "working", he will be very focused and dedicated.

If it is not a big deal, it will not affect him.

Yesterday, his workload was delayed because of Sister Yang's matter, and he has been making up for yesterday's workload today. He

still has to dig for a while.

Qiao Wei retracted her gaze, raised her eyebrows at Yan Lei, and gave him a provocative look.

Do you dare?

Yan Lei thought it was inappropriate.

It was not dark yet.

The old-fashioned man looked at the sky, the eaves, and the wall.

Look at his wife who was leaning against the wall with her arms folded and a smile on her face. The arm was snow-white against the indigo cloth.

The old-fashioned man stared at the arm and turned back to look at his son.

He sucked his lip and his eyes became fierce.

Turning back, he grabbed her waist and pulled her into the house with one arm.

With a bang, the door was closed...

it was not yet dark.

The child looked up and didn't pay any attention.

Dig, dig, dig.