Chapter 61

"Qiao Wei——" Yan Lei called her from a distance.

Qiao Wei went over, and Yan Lei handed Yan Xiang to her: "He's almost done. If he's exposed to the sun any more, his skin will peel off."

Qiao Wei really couldn't accept such a big child being naked in public, even though the river not far away was full of naked half-grown children. She came over with a towel, quickly dried Yan Xiang's body, and then wrapped the towel around his lower body.

It was good. The big towel was like a bath towel to Yan Xiang.

Yan Lei glanced over to the chair: "Who is that?"

He originally wanted to carry Yan Xiang over by himself, but there was an elderly woman next to Qiao Wei, and he was only wearing swimming trunks, so it was not easy to get over, so he called Qiao Wei over.

"An old lady. Let's talk about making shoes." Qiao Wei said, "I want her to make shoes for me."

"Don't give me money." Yan Lei said, "Give me something."

No one can sell things or provide services in a private capacity. Everyone must have a unit or organization. If not, it's speculation.

"I negotiated two kilograms of white flour. Is it expensive?"

"It's expensive, she's cheating you."

"Ah?"

Yan Lei smiled and said, "You're used to eating fine grains, so you think it's normal, right?"

Qiao Wei said embarrassedly.

"They all know that military dependents have good conditions. Did you tell her that you are a military dependent?"

"Yes, I just told her."

"So I'm going to cheat you."

Another point is that Qiao Wei looks delicate and tender, and her accent tells that she is a city girl. In the eyes of the old lady, she is the typical young person who can't put on face. If not her, who else can she cheat?

Qiao Wei humbly asked: "How much should it be?"

"Half a bowl of noodles, or a steamed bun." Yan Lei said, "No more."

The grocery store also sells ready-made steamed buns. In order to look bigger, they are very big.

"Can you do it? If not, I'll go talk to her." He was about to go ashore.

"You swim, I'll do it myself."

Qiao Wei rushed back with Yan Xiang in her arms.

Yan Lei smiled at her back.

Qiao Wei carried Yan Xiang back to the small bamboo chair and said directly: "Auntie, let's forget about what happened just now."

The old lady was anxious when she heard it: "What's the matter, young lady, didn't we agree on it?"

Qiao Wei said: "My husband said that two catties of white flour is equivalent to robbery, and asked me to find someone else."

The old lady was exposed, but she was not ashamed. She was old and shrewd, and her face did not change: "Then let's talk again, how about one catty?"

Qiao Wei said: "Half a bowl of noodles, or a steamed bun, if not, forget it."

The old lady knew that there was no bargain to be taken, and smacked her lips: "Then let's have a steamed bun."

Another deal was made.

After the deal was settled, the old lady looked into the river and asked: "Is that your man?"

Qiao Wei smiled: "It's my husband, the father of the child."

"What a handsome young man." The old lady praised.

Qiao Wei asked the old lady for her name and address, and agreed: "I will deliver the soles and fabrics tomorrow morning."

The old lady looked into the river again and said leisurely: "Your husband is in good health, you are blessed."

In the river, Yan Lei went to the deep end and was swimming in the waves like a fish.

The explosive power of his arm muscles was amazing.

Qiao Wei smiled.

The leisure time of the elderly women who had to take care of the housework ended as the sun set.

The old lady stood up and picked up her small stool: "...The third house in the alley, don't go the wrong way."

"Okay." Qiao Wei agreed.

The old ladies and daughters-in-law who were doing needlework under the shade of the trees on the shore got up and left one by one.

Yan Lei had a great time swimming, and he came ashore only after seeing that there were no women around Qiao Wei. He wiped his body with a towel and put on his clothes and trousers after putting on his swimming trunks.

Qiao Wei laughed: "The crotch of your pants will get wet later."

"So walk faster." Yan Lei picked up Yan Xiang with one hand and held her under his armpit, and picked up the small bamboo chair with the other hand and put it on his shoulder, "Let's go!"

"It's wet, it's wet." Qiao Wei laughed all the way and stepped on her shoes, always teasing Yan Lei.

"Nonsense." Yan Lei said to Yan Xiang, "Mom is lying."

Yan Xiang stretched her neck to take a look, and said to Qiao Wei seriously: "Mom, don't lie, it's not wet."

Qiao Wei laughed, picked up her shoes and chased after them, walking side by side, and asked Yan Lei: "Can I go swimming in the river?"

The river was full of men, and she didn't see any women.

Yan Lei was surprised: "You want to swim? That has to be at night, when it's dark, I'll come with you. But then the water will be cold, and you may not be able to bear it."

"It has to be at night?"

"..." Yan Lei, "What else?"

Qiao Wei said: "The swimming pool will not open at night."

"I know, that has to be in the city." Yan Lei said, "This small place is incomparable. If you go to the river during the day, the whole town will come to watch you, and they will point fingers at you in the future."

There is really no other way. The environment and customs of small places are like this.

"Okay." Qiao Wei could only say.

"There is a swimming pool in the city. I passed by it. There are many lesbians swimming there." Yan Lei said carefully, "How about we find time to go to the city?"

Qiao Wei glanced at him.

Although they have not been together for a long time, when people are close to a certain extent, they can naturally perceive the tone of each other's speech and the underlying emotions.

Qiao Wei felt that Yan Lei was a little cautious.

He seemed to be more worried than before that she would dislike Xiahezhen as a small place.

"No need." Qiao Wei smiled slightly, "I just said it casually." Yan Lei

breathed a sigh of relief.

How come they are closer and their relationship has improved, but he is more worried than before.

On Monday, Qiao Wei took a pair of shoe soles with her when she went shopping for groceries.

The soles were made of pre-sewn thousand-layer soles, which she bought together with cloth shoes when she rushed to buy them last time. There were complete shoes and soles without uppers, so she could sew the uppers herself.

The tailor would definitely be able to do this job, but he refused to take it.

After asking around, she found out that there were no old-fashioned traditional shoemakers left in the town. After all, shoes are basically industrialized now.

There was a shoe repairman, who was on the same street as the tailor, both in the Handicraft Lane. Qiao Wei went to take a look and felt that the shoe repairman's method was quite rough. It was not what she wanted.

She had always wanted to find a suitable person to help her make shoes, but recently she was obsessed with painting walls.

Unexpectedly, she found the person when she went for a walk by the river on Sunday.

First I went to the market to buy vegetables, meat and fruits, and on the way back I went to the old lady's house and gave her the soles and fabric.

The old lady's surname was Lu, and her husband died in the eighth year, so the neighbors called her the Eighth Family.

"Plain ones don't look good, and they are for us older people to wear." Aunt Lu asked, "Do you really not want embroidery?"

Aunt Lu was thinking that if she embroidered some flowers, she would have to ask Qiao Wei for something more.

"No, I want pure plain ones." Qiao Wei insisted.

It's not that she doesn't like embroidery. She's just worried that if she embroiders flowers, it may not be suitable to wear in the future when the atmosphere becomes tense.

It's safer to keep it simple.

I asked how long it would take to be done. Aunt Lu said, "You can just come and pick it up tomorrow when you buy vegetables."

It was pretty fast.

Qiao Wei went back happily.

After finishing lunch and cleaning up, Yan Xiang began to yawn. When Qiao Wei was about to take him to take a nap, Lin Xixi suddenly came to the door: "Auntie, Auntie Qiao."

What a rare guest.

After Lin Xixi figured it out, she completely lost interest in Yan Lei. She seemed to have lost some enthusiasm for the life around her, and she just worked hard every day. Sometimes Qiao Wei seemed to see the appearance of a middle-aged woman who had worked and served her husband's family all her life through her young figure.

Why is she here?

"My sister-in-law asked me to ask you to come over to play." It turned out that Lin Xixi came to pass on a message.

"Huh? Now?" Qiao Wei was surprised.

"The aunts of Captain Ma, Captain Xue, and Captain Wang are all here to visit, and my sister-in-law asked me to ask you to come over with them."

Oh~

Is this to let her join their women's social group?

Qiao Wei was very excited.

She now understood why people of this era were so keen on visiting and socializing - because there was really no other entertainment. Even if there was a TV, no, nothing at all!

The radio was already the most advanced entertainment, and there were only a few channels, either red songs, or operas, or the study of the central spirit.

Now, Sister Yang took the initiative to extend an olive branch and wanted to include her in their women's social group.

They were all relatives of cadres, and if they were left in the future, they would be wives.

Qiao Wei pulled Lin Xixi and asked, "I haven't visited many people, is there anything I should pay attention to?"

This person will be the wife of a high-ranking official in the future.

Lin Xixi no longer had any feelings for Qiao Wei, but she didn't want to offend her, so she told her: "Some aunties brought melon seeds, some brought peanuts..."

Qiao Wei understood and said: "Okay, you go back first, I'll be there soon."

The fruit they grabbed today was plums. She washed half of them, put them in an enamel basin, and took Yan Xiang's hand: "Let's go visit some friends~" She

just took a step forward and then took it back. She went back to the house, took out a few pieces of candy and stuffed them into Yan Xiang's trouser pocket: "If there are other children who you like, you can give the candy to them. You don't have to give it to those you don't like."

Yan Xiang was overjoyed to get extra candy. He stopped yawning and touched his bulging trouser pockets: "Okay!"

The mother and son held hands and came to Captain Zhao's house.

Sure enough, the low table for summer meals had been pulled under the shade of the trees, surrounded by benches and stools. On the table were melon seeds, peanuts, shredded radish and other things, and plenty of cool white wine.

This was a low-profile tea party in the 1960s.

"Sister-in-law." Qiao Wei smiled, "Sister-in-law Ma, Sister-in-law Xue, Sister-in-law Wang."

Everyone called her, "Qiao, come quickly."

Northerners like to swallow words when calling people, such as "Xiao Qiao", and after swallowing the word "Xiao", only "Qiao" is left. So sometimes you hear people being called by their surnames.

This is rarely the case in later generations. Qiao Wei heard someone calling Yan Lei "Yan" a few days ago, and she was not used to being called "Qiao", but she has gotten used to it in the past few days.

Qiao Wei also contributed the plums she brought and placed them on the small table. Everyone was eating melon seeds or peanuts.

Sister Yang told Qiao Wei: "We will visit from time to time to chat and gossip. You are young and not used to this, so I didn't call you before."

"Call me in the future, my family and I are too free." Qiao Wei said.

It's true. After painting the walls, I have nothing to do. All the sanitary corners in the house have been dealt with. There is really nothing to do.

She was so bored that she read the pig raising manual and urgently needed to find a way to pass the time.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Each era has its own style.

Question the mother, understand the mother, and become the mother.

Besides, these women are not considered aunts, but only sisters in terms of age. Captain Xue and Captain Wang's lovers are only four or five years older than her, and they are about the same age as Yan Lei. Their husbands are a few years older than them.

In short, after a round of discussion, among the acquaintances, Yan Lei is the youngest among the men, and Qiao Wei is the youngest among the family members.

While eating melon seeds, they started talking about family matters, from the old district to the compound, from the town armed forces department to the town party committee office, from Lao Li in the supply and marketing cooperative to Xiao Wang in the vegetable market, the gossip came one by one.

Qiao Wei listened with great interest.

After all the gossip, they commented on Sister Yang's house: "It looks like new."

"Why don't you paint my house, too?"

"How much whitewash do you want?"

"Qiao calculated it for me. Qiao, you can calculate it for them, too."

The pen was a Chinese pencil, and the paper was torn from some child's homework book. Qiao Wei asked about their house conditions - the houses here are all about the same size, and you can roughly estimate the amount of space you need by looking at the number of rooms. She

wrote down everything for them, and tore the paper into three strips. The tea party was over, and everyone took a strip and put it in their pockets and went back.

Yan Xiang was playing in the house with Junzi and Wu Ni'er. Qiao Wei helped Sister Yang clean up the mess and sweep the floor. When she entered the house, she saw the three children sleeping in a mess on the kang.

Sister Yang: "Let's leave later, wait until the children wake up, otherwise they will be easily startled."

She went back to the yard to chat.

"They laughed at me, saying I would paint the walls after the salary increase." Sister Yang covered her mouth and laughed, "Why didn't I build a new house?"

Qiao Wei grinned, "If building a house is so easy, we'll build it."

Sister Yang said shyly, "I didn't think much about it before they said it, but I saw that the house was so bright after you painted it. After they said that, I really felt a little..."

"What do you mean?" Qiao Wei said angrily, "Even if it's to celebrate Brother Zhao's salary increase, why can't it be done? People are in high spirits when good things happen. The more you run towards good things, the more good things will come to you."

"This is not feudal superstition, it's a life attitude. The more positive a person's attitude is, the more successful he or she will be. If things are done well, it will give people the feeling that good things are coming to them."

"The better, the better."

This is really pleasing to hear.

Sister Yang clapped her hands and said, "That's right."

When Yan Xiang woke up and prepared to go back, Qiao Wei said, "Sister-in-law, call me next time." Sister Yang said

, "In the old district, the men of us are all Commander Pan's men. We should get together more often. I have wanted to call you for a long time, but I was afraid that you would dislike us and we couldn't get along."

It turned out that there was such a relationship. Qiao Wei thought that everyone was a comrade-in-arms. How naive.

No wonder Yan Lei always hoped that she could get along well with the people around her.