Chapter 57

In the morning jog, Yan Lei insisted that Qiao Wei run in front.

"Why?"

"I'm running too fast and I'm afraid you can't catch up." Qiao Wei

started to speed up without saying a word.

Yan Lei held her tightly. No matter how fast she accelerated, she couldn't get rid of him.

Yan Lei smiled, and his eyes were always on Qiao Wei's back.

She was not a soldier, nor a student, but she was going out for a run early in the morning.

The family had never seen such a thing. Most family members would tie an apron first, pick up a spoon, and prepare meals for the whole family when they got up in the morning.

But Yan Lei liked Qiao Wei's back when she was running.

The swaying of her body had a rhythm and melody, and she was sweating in the morning light early in the morning, and her vitality was steaming.

Indeed, if he didn't keep her up too late at night and let her get up on time for a morning run, her day would start with such vigor.

Breakfast was porridge, and she cut some green onions and mixed them into the porridge, which was very fragrant.

Qiao Wei said, "This green onion was given to me by Zhao's wife. The green onion you planted, why do I see other vegetables growing seedlings, but only the green onion has sprouted a little bit? Is the seed dead?"

What a city dweller who knows nothing.

Yan Lei looked down on her: "Green onions, if you plant them this year, you can't eat them until next year. It's good enough that I can grow a small seedling for you this year."

Before leaving, Yan Lei had to inspect his precious vegetable garden and squat to see how much taller the seedlings had grown compared to yesterday.

He also specifically told Qiao Wei: "Tell Xiangxiang to be careful, don't let me step on her when she runs in the yard."

He was so spoiled.

When Yan Xiang woke up, his father had already gone to work.

Qiao Wei made him some glutinous rice cakes. If you don't put eggs in them, the glutinous rice cakes will taste good, and the child ate them with a mouth full of oil.

Qiao Wei asked him: "Are you still painting the walls with mom today?"

Yan Xiang nodded: "Together!"

"Okay, today's target is the outer room of your room and the east wall of the main room."

"Okay!"

The main room is in the middle of the old-style house, and the rooms on the east and west sides are divided into inner and outer rooms.

The inner room is the bedroom. The outer room on the west is the study, and the outer room on the east is for some sundries.

In that era, even furniture was limited, so the house looked very empty.

The outer room is smaller than the inner bedroom. After Qiao Wei and Yan Xiang finished painting the outer room, they painted one wall of the main room.

"Okay, that's all for today," Qiao Wei said.

They also painted the wall in the morning yesterday, leaving the afternoon for Yan Xiang to play and study.

At noon, Qiao Wei cooked in the kitchen while Yan Xiang played in the sandbox.

The sandbox was under the shade of a tree and out of the sun.

Yan Xiang played for a while, looked up at the sky, ran to the kitchen door and said to Qiao Wei: "Mom, the clouds blocked the sun."

Qiao Wei also felt that the house was dark, she looked out of the door and said: "It's cloudy."

"It was sunny in the morning. Is it going to rain?"

Sure enough, while eating lunch, a drizzle began to fall.

This was the first rain since Qiao Wei came here.

Qiao Wei said: "Listen." She

listened sideways, there was no sound of any car or machine here. Tick-tick, tick-tick, clatter. Rain hits the tiles, water falls through the stones, pearls and jade splash

everywhere . Yan Xiang said: "It's so quiet." After cleaning up the dishes, it was time to take a nap after lunch. Yan Xiang sat on the cool bed with his legs hanging in the air and asked Qiao Wei: "Mom, can I sleep here? It's very quiet." Yan Xiang's "quiet" was quiet in another sense. Qiao Wei understood. She said: "Sure." She also went into the house to get him a buckwheat pillow. Yan Xiang happily took off his shoes and lay on the cool bed. "Mom, why does water fall from the sky?" Qiao Wei said: "It has to start with the evaporation of water vapor from the sea and rivers. Do you remember the earth's atmosphere that mom told you about..." She also sat on the cool bed, leaning against the cushion, and slowly explained to Yan Xiang the structure and operating principles of the world. The rain was dripping, refreshing and moist, eliminating the dryness of the summer heat. The cushions were soft and supportive. The child's face was pulled and bounced. The more Qiao Wei talked, the heavier her eyelids felt. The child in her hands no longer resisted. She stroked the smooth face with her palms and could hear her own voice getting slower and farther away... When she opened her eyes again, the rain had stopped, and the sun cut through the edge of the eaves and fell into the yard. The air was still humid, and the cobblestone path was sparkling. This sleep was so comfortable that I didn't want to get up at all. But the child's feet were pressing against her chin. Qiao Wei: "..." How did you fall asleep on the cool bed with Yan Xiang? He rubbed his eyes and sat up, patting Yan Xiang's butt: "Wake up, wake up." Yan Xiang opened his eyes in a daze, yawned, and then immediately came back to life, sat up and found his shoes. He ran to the cobblestone path and jumped: "Mom, look!" The cobblestone path was not wide, but narrow, but it was washed by the rain and was fresh and clean. "No need to step on the mud!" Yan Xiang said happily. In the past, when it rained, the yard was wet and you had to walk on the bricks. If you were not careful, you would slip and step on the mud. After paving these two paths, it became clean and dry, and you would no longer bring mud into the house. Yan Xiang ran around on the path, giggling. The sand pit was wet and we couldn't play in it for the time being.

But you can play with mud. Who doesn't play with mud after it rains?

When Yan Lei returned home, he saw that the windowsill was full of small "sculptures". Blocks, spheres, trapezoids, cones, small animals that were not sure whether they were cats or dogs, snakes, plates, bowls, and an almost collapsed teapot.

Yan Xiang introduced them to her father: "This is made by me, and this is made by mom."

"Dad, who is better, me or mom?"

Obviously, the ability to keep things balanced is also a kind of genetic. Yan Lei answered calmly: "Xiangxiang's is beautiful, and mom's is excellent."

Obviously Yan Xiang is also very satisfied with this evaluation. Although his own is very good, he can't say that mom's is not good.

Dad did the right thing.

Yan Lei walked into the main room and exclaimed, "Good progress."

Then he asked, "Where's Mom?"

"In the kitchen."

Yan Lei took off his uniform and went to the kitchen. Sure enough, Qiao Wei was cooking.

He went over and took the shovel: "You're not tired today, why are you cooking?"

"It got much better after you rubbed it for me yesterday. It's not so sore today." Qiao Wei said, "And we found the rhythm today, so we're not so anxious. We were too aggressive at the beginning yesterday."

It's good to brush slowly, not so tiring.

Anyway, you don't have to rush.

"Today, the whitewash was done properly. Actually, I didn't want to paint the whole room yesterday, I just wanted to paint the three walls above the kang first. As a result, I painted too much, so I had to continue. Then the whitewash ran out, and the walls were not fully painted, so I had to paint again..."

Yan Lei understood immediately: "Yes, I am the same. If it is not done properly, it will not be completed. If there is no appropriate progress to stop, it will be very uncomfortable."

Qiao Wei laughed to death: "This is called obsessive-compulsive disorder."

She told him the story of a person who could not confirm whether he locked the door when he went out, so he practiced a set of military boxing after locking the door. In the end, he had to practice a whole set of military boxing after locking the door.

Of course, because it was not known whether there was a standard military boxing at that time, Qiao Wei only said "boxing" and did not mention "military boxing".

Yan Lei laughed so hard that his stomach hurt: "Who is this? Is he from the old district or the compound?"

Qiao Wei said seriously: "I don't know. I heard them say it when I was buying vegetables."

Qiao Wei's social skills have improved compared to before. She has been interacting with her neighbors more and more.

Yan Lei said while cooking: "This is a martial artist."

Later, this joke spread to the army. For a long time, everyone wanted to find this stupid guy who would do a whole set of boxing to lock the door.

There were several martial artists in the army, but of course no one was willing to admit it.

Later, different versions of whether it was Southern Fist or Northern Fist, Changquan or Wing Chun Fist were formed, and everyone insisted on their own opinions and argued endlessly.

The progress of the whitewashing is that the west inner and outer rooms have been painted, and the east wall of the main hall has been painted.

"Finish the main hall tomorrow."

This is Qiao Wei's plan.

"Then Xiangxiang..." Yan Lei asked tentatively.

"Xiangxiang will sleep with us first. Let him go back after the main hall is painted."

Yan Lei was happy.

The next day, the main hall was indeed brand new.

The photo frames and the portrait of the Chairman on the wall were taken down and placed on the counter. The counter, table, low cabinet, and shoe cabinet were temporarily moved away from the wall.

"Move it back tomorrow after it's dry." Qiao Wei grinned, "It won't work today. The table and counter are too heavy, and Xiangxiang can't help. I'll drag them out by myself."

At that time, there was no European pine board, and the furniture was all solid wood, very heavy.

Yan Lei said, "Don't worry about it tomorrow, wait until I come back. I'll move it."

"Then help me move the wardrobe in our bedroom today, I'm going to clean our room tomorrow."

"Okay!"

Just after returning home from dinner, Captain Zhao came over with a bottle of wine: "Your sister-in-law doesn't let me drink at home."

There are many boys in the family, and they don't learn well. They follow their father's example and learn to drink. The adults don't let them drink, but they drink secretly.

Sister Yang kicked Captain Zhao out.

Qiao Wei brought out a plate of peanuts.

Captain Zhao was surprised and happy: "This is exactly what I was going to do."

Qiao Wei laughed to death: "You pick the right time."

There are fried peanuts in the canteen of the compound today. There are too few snacks these days. Qiao Wei has a bit of a shrew habit now. She saw how she could not leave empty-handed, so she packed the food in her lunch box and brought it back.

But Captain Zhao came at the right time.

A small table was placed in the yard, and Qiao Wei even lit mosquito coils for them.

Captain Zhao stood at the door and looked at the main room: "What's this for?"

Yan Lei smiled and said: "The walls at home are all dirty. My family loves cleanliness and insisted on repainting them. Look, a little bit every day, and it will be finished in two more days."

"My sister-in-law painted it all by herself?"

Captain Zhao really looked at Qiao Wei with new eyes. Who said that the Yan family's sister-in-law can't lift or carry anything.

"And me! Mr. Zhao! And me!"

"Oh oh oh! And our Xiao Xiang!" Captain Zhao gave him a thumbs up and fed him a peanut.

It smelled delicious.

Yan Xiang was happy.

Men love to talk when they drink.

The two men's hometowns are not far away, they belong to the same region, and they also have a common language.

Qiao Wei was listening through the window in the house. They originally spoke with accents, but as they talked, they stopped speaking Mandarin and spoke only dialect.

Yan Lei drank a lot of wine and was a little tipsy. After seeing Captain Zhao off, he washed up and became a little sober.

After entering the house, he tiptoed to the east room and saw it off. Yan Xiang was sleeping alone in his new and clean bedroom.

Yan Lei went to the west room with great joy—

Qiao Wei had already fallen asleep.

Besides, it was not tiring, but it was still physical work after all.

As the amount of exercise increased, the quality of sleep improved. I fell asleep as soon as I touched the pillow.

Yan Lei: "..."

Some old comrades who love to drink really delay things!

Wait until tomorrow, wait until tomorrow. Yan Lei comforted himself.

Xiangxiang also went back to her room, wait until tomorrow.

The next day Yan Lei came back with expectations.

The west bedroom was also painted. It was clean and new, like a newlywed.

Yan Lei was very energetic and first put the table, furniture and low cabinets in the main room back in place.

Looking forward to the evening coming early.

It was night, Qiao Wei said: "Let's go to Yan Xiang's room to sleep."

Yan Lei: "?"

"We've cleaned our room, and we need to get rid of the smell. Let's sleep in Xiang Xiang's room for two days first."

"Mom, Dad!" Yan Xiang jumped on the kang in his bedroom, and as the owner of the room, he happily welcomed the two guests, "Come on."

He also arranged the seats: "Dad sleeps on this side, and Mom and I sleep on this side."

Everything was in order.

He didn't know that in the middle of the night, the father watched his sweet wife sleeping soundly with his sweet son.

He was the only one who was so angry that he couldn't sleep.