Chapter 60

"Oh, my sister-in-law is here."

Captain Zhao was in charge of cleaning the main room. He saw Qiao Wei first and hurried out. He wiped his hands on his pants and took the bowl from her: "What is this? It smells so good."

"It's the chicken stewed at home. Lao Yan asked me to bring a bowl over to taste." Qiao Wei looked around and saw that everyone was working. "What is this? No lunch today?"

Captain Zhao came closer to smell the aroma of the chicken soup and said, "It's all your sister-in-law. She has an impatient temper. I told her to clean one room at a time, but she insisted that there were too many people in the family and she could finish it in one day."

"That's what it means to have a large family," Qiao Wei said with a smile.

Captain Zhao was very pleased.

Sister Yang came out: "What are you doing? Are you trying to smear me behind my back?"

Captain Zhao said hurriedly: "I'm flattering you."

Qiao Wei asked: "Can you finish it today?"

Sister Yang said: "Almost."

She took the bowl of chicken: "Hurry up and work."

Captain Zhao went back to work.

Sister Yang said to Qiao Wei again: "Wait."

She went into the kitchen and poured the chicken soup into her own bowl. She scooped a bucket of water to rinse Qiao Wei's bowl.

She rolled a few more big cakes, folded them, wrapped them in a dry lotus leaf, and returned them to Qiao Wei together with the empty bowl: "Just baked this morning, Xixi baked it, you can take it back."

Lin Xixi's cakes have become famous. Everyone knows that her pancakes are delicious.

Qiao Wei only knows how to steam rice, and at most can make a dough cake. She tried pancakes, but they were not delicious.

She happily took it and said, "I must learn from you someday how to make pancakes so fragrant." She

held up the empty bowl and went back with the pancakes.

Sister Yang wiped her hands on her apron and went back to the house and shouted, "Gangzi, Huazi, go to the courtyard to get some vegetables. We won't cook lunch today. You all should be quick, we will finish cleaning today."

She and Captain Zhao cleaned the main room together.

Captain Zhao sighed and said, "I always thought that Xiao Qiao was not good at speaking. I was wrong."

One time was at Teacher Pan's place. She was neither humble nor arrogant, and her speech was clear.

Gangzi was even sweeter and likable.

It was very different from the impression.

Sister Yang: "That's right."

I don't know why, although both use heat to cook raw food, the meat cooked in a wood-fired iron pot is especially fragrant.

Yan Lei was about to make a pancake, but Qiao Wei brought back a large pancake from Captain Zhao's house.

Yan Lei was happy: "Just right!"

Lin Xixi's pancakes are really amazing.

The family of three ate it with chicken and the vegetables cooked in chicken soup, and they were full of praise.

Yan Lei told Yan Xiang: "Don't wake up too late for your nap. I'll take you to the river to play later."

Yan Xiang's cheeks puffed up and his eyes lit up: "Can we go to the river?"

Yan Xiang was very well-behaved. Every time he went to the river with his mother, his mother told him not to go to the river, so he just picked up stones on the shallow beach.

Yan Lei said: "Go! I'll take you swimming."

Qiao Wei tore a piece of cake and looked at him.

Yan Lei said: "Don't worry."

He said again: "There are rivers and ponds where we live. It's more reassuring if the child learns to swim earlier."

Qiao Wei said: "He's too young."

"I'll take care of him. Don't worry." Yan Lei said, "Don't be too spoiled. You can't really let him be a little master."

In this era, children are raised in the wild. Take Junjun for example. Although he is only one and a half years older than Yan Xiang, no one is watching him anymore. He always runs out to play by himself. When he is hungry, he goes home to find food.

Everyone thinks it is normal.

Yan Xiang is brought up to be much more delicate. He seems a bit out of place with the group of mud monkey-like children.

"I'll go too." Qiao Wei said.

She was still worried and had to keep an eye on him.

Yan Lei smiled and shook his head.

After lunch, Yan Xiang went back to his room to sleep. Yan Lei coaxed him. When he came out, he saw Qiao Wei squatting in front of the low cabinet in the living room.

"What are you doing?" He bent over and stretched his neck to look.

Qiao Wei raised the empty glass bottle in her hand and shook it.

She had bought a lot of dried fruits as snacks before, and she hadn't finished them yet. Qiao Wei put everything into a lunch box: "Aren't we going to the river in the afternoon? Bring some snacks. Ah————"

Before she could finish her words, her body was lifted up by the waist and floated into the air.

Qiao Wei struggled .

"Hush." ​​Yan Lei covered her mouth and lowered his voice, "The child just fell asleep."

Qiao Wei bit his neck.

Yan Lei threw her up, grabbed her with his hands, and hugged her sideways.

"Don't bite." He laughed, "Several people asked me what happened to my neck. If you bite it and leave teeth marks, I really can't make up a story."

Qiao Wei almost laughed out loud.

Yan Lei carried her into the west room and kicked the door with his back foot...

Children can grow up quickly if they sleep well, this is what their mother said.

Yan Xiang takes a nap seriously every day. When he wakes up, he feels a little hot.

He slides out of bed, steps on a stool and goes to the yard. Mom and Dad have already woken up from their nap.

They both seem to have slept well, and Mom's face is particularly pretty.

Yan Xiang likes the current atmosphere at home.

He remembers that some time ago, the atmosphere at home was not so relaxed. There was always a feeling that made him not want to talk, especially when Mom and Dad were at home.

I hope that the family will always be like this in the future.

No matter what Dad does, he often looks at Mom. Mom also often looks at Dad.

Then the two of them will laugh together.

Although Yan Xiang doesn't know what Mom and Dad are laughing at, he is also happy to laugh with them.

"Dad, let's go." Yan Xiang was full of energy.

Yan Lei stood up: "We've been waiting for you to get up. Let's go!"

Qiao Wei put on her comfortable cotton clothes and trousers, and a pair of cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles. She didn't wear socks, and her snow-white heels stepped on the back of the shoes, relaxed and casual.

She also brought the woven basket that she usually carried to the market, put on her straw hat, and reminded the father and son: "Carry the water bottle."

There were three military water bottles at home, all of which were full.

Yan Xiang went over and touched them, and was very surprised: "It's so cool."

He filled the bucket with boiled water in advance and put it in the bucket to soak for a nap. It was soaked in groundwater and cooled.

Qiao Wei also asked Yan Lei: "Don't you want to play with umbrellas?"

The sun was still very bright.

Yan Lei was speechless: "Why do grown men play with umbrellas?"

Okay.

Yan Lei went over, picked up the small bamboo chair at home, and put it on his shoulders.

Yan Xiang was curious: "Dad, what are you doing with this?"

"For Mom to sit on."

Qiao Wei originally said to bring a small stool.

Yan Lei felt that the waist would get tired if she sat on it for a long time. She had already worked hard at noon, and she couldn't let her work harder.

A small bamboo chair was not a big burden for him.

"The weight of cross-country training is much heavier than this." He didn't care.

The family of three went out like this.

Qiao Wei was quite surprised when they arrived at the river. The river was full of people.

Indeed, you can feel that the air temperature has dropped a few degrees when you get close to the river. People in the town like to cool off here.

But there are not so many people on weekdays. Today is Sunday, and there are no classes in school. The boys all ran to the river to play like crazy. Some sections of the river are as turbulent as dumplings.

Under the sparse shade of the trees, some old ladies gathered together to cool off with palm-leaf fans, chat, and do needlework.

"Let's find a place with fewer people." Qiao Wei instructed Yan Lei, "Stay away from those half-grown children."

For a little kid like Yan Xiang, those half-grown boys are as dangerous as time bombs.

Yan Lei said, "I'm here, don't worry."

They found a place a little further away.

Yan Lei placed a small bamboo chair under the shade of a tree by the river: "Just stay here and watch us."

He took off his clothes directly - he had put on his swimming trunks at home.

Wearing swimming trunks was considered lucky because he was a soldier, so he knew that he had to wear swimming trunks when going into the river, and he also had the conditions to buy swimming trunks from the military service agency.

In fact, all the men in the town went into the river naked.

The reason why Yan Lei found a place a little further away was because there were one or two young men among the children in the crowded place, all naked.

Although those boys might be only fifteen or sixteen years old, they are old enough to marry and have sons in the countryside.

He didn't want his wife to see other people's family affairs.

Yan Lei took off his clothes and pants, and stacked them neatly on his shoes.

When he looked up, Qiao Wei was looking at him, her eyes wandering between his waist and abdomen.

Yan Lei curled his lips and showed a tacit smile.

Qiao Wei smiled.

It was so clear under the sun. The shape of each muscle was full and firm.

She remembered the hot afternoon when he was sweating profusely.

In the blink of an eye, Yan Lei's hands were very fast, and Yan Xiang was stripped naked in no time.

Qiao Wei covered her face: "You leave him some shorts."

Yan Lei said: "It's okay. Look, whose kid is still wearing shorts when going into the river."

He picked up Yan Xiang and went into the water.

Qiao Wei watched for a while. Yan Lei was very sensible. He didn't go to deep places. He only took Yan Xiang to play in shallow places.

He taught him to hold his breath and to swim.

Qiao Wei was relieved.

She took out the mosquito coil from the woven basket and lit it next to the small bamboo chair. She

took out her water bottle, opened it and took a sip. It was cool and comfortable to drink. She

put the water bottle down, took out a lunch box, opened the lid and put it on her legs, took out a piece of dried apple and took a bite.

The sky was very blue. The sun might have dried up all the clouds. There was not a single cloud in the huge sky.

There was a small breeze blowing by the river, carrying the smell of water. Qiao Wei was sitting

cross-legged under the shade of a tree, fanning herself with a cattail leaf fan, chewing dried fruit, and swinging her slippers. She

felt comfortable. She was watching the father and son splashing happily in the river, when suddenly an old lady in a blue cloth jacket brought a stool and sat next to her. Qiao Wei: "..." It felt like people at this time... really had no sense of boundaries. The old lady didn't realize that she was too close to others. She saw Qiao Wei lighting up the mosquito coil, so she came over to use the mosquito coil. She even talked to Qiao Wei: "Miss, who are you from? I don't recognize your face." You could tell from her accent that she was from the town. Qiao Wei smiled: "I am a military dependent." Qiao Wei's accent was different when she spoke. The old lady glanced at her and was a little surprised: "Are you from the city?" She saw Qiao Wei wearing a set of homespun clothes. Coincidentally, she was wearing an indigo homespun top and original-color homespun pants today. Just now, I thought Qiao Wei was a local. Young military dependents like to wear shaggy cloth. "Yes, I'm from Lin City." "No wonder you are so fair and handsome." Don't hit a smiling person, because everyone praises you for being beautiful. Qiao Wei grabbed a handful of dried fruit and handed it over: "Auntie, have some of this." The old lady smiled, put down the needlework in her hand, and took it: "How can I be so embarrassed." This military dependent is handsome and not arrogant, so likable. Qiao Wei looked at the needlework on the old lady's knees and asked: "Auntie, can you make shoes?"

"Who can't do it?"

"Hehehe, I can't do it."

"When we were young, if we didn't know how to make shoes and sew, we couldn't get married, so we had to learn. Now there's nothing to do, young people have gone to work in factories, and now shoes are all made by machines, so it doesn't matter whether you can make shoes or not."

The old lady is also an old lady who has good eyes and can talk.

Qiao Wei picked up the half-finished shoes on her legs and took a closer look. The craftsmanship is really good, and the stitches are very even.

"Auntie, have you seen other people's sandals?"

"I have seen them, the plastic ones, right? Military families like to wear them. Those require industrial coupons. For example, my son is the only one in my family who works in the factory. He is an apprentice and his salary is only 14 yuan, so he doesn't have industrial coupons."

Industrial coupons are allocated according to wages, and one industrial coupon is allocated for every 20 yuan of wages.

"Fortunately, the factory gives us some things." The old lady said while eating, "These days, you must be a worker. It's good to be a worker. Once you become a regular employee, your salary will go up."

"Auntie." Qiao Wei brought the topic back to shoes, "Can you cut the uppers according to the style of sandals to make cloth shoes?"

"Of course I can. It's just half a shoe, which is easier than sewing a full shoe." As

long as you can do it, Qiao Wei needs someone who can do it.

"I have my own soles, I have already bought them. I just need someone to sew the uppers and shoelaces for me." Although the people under the shade of the trees were quite far away from here, Qiao Wei still whispered stealthily, "Auntie, what do you need? What can I give you in exchange? Can you sew a shoe upper for me?"

The old lady also became sneaky, stretched her neck to look around, and lowered her voice: "Just sew half of the upper and shoelaces?"

Qiao Wei gestured with her unfinished shoes: "Like this, like this, here is like this, like this. Can you do it?"

"Yes, yes, in our alley, my needlework is second to none. You have found the right person."

"Then what do you want?" Qiao Wei asked.

The old lady tried to stretch out three fingers, hesitated, retracted one, and finally stretched out two fingers to make a V.

Qiao Wei: "?"

"White flour." The old lady said, "I want two kilograms of white flour."

One yuan can buy six kilograms of flour. But white flour is fine grain. Under the planned economy, coarse grain and fine grain are all matched.

But this is not a problem for the cadres' families.

Qiao Wei agreed immediately: "Okay!"