Chapter 31 Mailbox

There was no liquid soap in 1980. Lin Qiao never expected this.

Ji Duo didn't tell her when she did it before, so she couldn't help but look at the man.

Ji Duo had no expression on his face, and it was hard to tell whether he understood the matter or not. Now was not the time to ask such questions, so Lin Qiao did not ask any more questions.

It was Ye Minshu who came back to her senses first. She smiled and said, "Liquid soap is just soapy water, right?" She didn't take it seriously.

Liquid soap is of course not soapy water. First of all, the formula is different from solid soap. To make a thick soap like Lin Qiao's is even more difficult than making solid soap. But she insisted on saying so, and Lin Qiao was too lazy to explain it further. After all, she might not be willing to listen even if she explained it.

Lin Qiao only explained to Xu Li how to use it, "This is mainly used for washing hands and hair. You can find something to scoop out a little bit and add water to dissolve it. It will foam up quickly."

In the final analysis, all detergents are products of saponification of alkaline water and oil, just with different proportions.

Although liquid soap is called soap, it is rarely used as soap.

It is the predecessor of shampoo, hand soap and dishwashing liquid. Liquid soap came first, and then it was adjusted and improved to produce other cleaning products with different uses.

Lin Qiao had limited materials on hand and couldn't come up with any other formulas, so naturally she could only make the most basic liquid soap.

But this already surprised Xu Li, "Our Qiao Qiao is really amazing, she knows everything, this kind of education is different."

He immediately opened a piece of handmade soap and put it on the washbasin rack, and put the rest away with the liquid soap. "Wait for me to find a smaller bottle to separate them."

He looked much happier than when he received the new clothes that Ye Minshu had just given him.

When she found out that Ji Duo also gave her something, she couldn't hide her joy, even though what Ji Duo bought her was a pair of reading glasses, which looked unoriginal at first glance.

"It's different now that you have a wife. If I had known, I would have let you get married earlier."

After thinking about it, I felt that something was not right. "Forget it. I asked you to get married early, but you were unwilling to do so."

It’s still not right, “It’s too early, Qiao Qiao is not yet an adult.”

Not only was she underage, Lin Qiao was also Ji Ze's childhood sweetheart. Of course, these couldn't be told, but Xu Li was very happy anyway.

Just when I thought of Ji Ze, he came back and shouted as soon as he entered the door: "Happy birthday, grandma, look what I prepared for you?"

"Didn't I tell you not to buy anything?" Xu Li has said this for the nth time today.

Ji Ze just smiled and said, "I didn't buy anything. I didn't spend a penny. If you don't believe me, take a look." He opened the notebook in his hand and found that it was filled with newspaper clippings.

The first photo is a photo of Xu Li when she was young. She wasn't that young, she looked to be around 40 years old, with neat shoulder-length hair, a bright smile and a bright eyes. Judging from the background, it was probably taken in school.

There are a few more pictures at the end, all cut out from different newspapers, reporting on Xu Li, some with photos and some without.

At the end is a group photo of various award certificates, which should have been taken by Ji Ze himself. No one knows when he took these.

Xu Li unconsciously reached out her hand to touch it, her eyes full of nostalgia, and Ji Ze handed the thing to her solemnly, "I cut this out from an old newspaper, and it's a little memory of grandma's sixty years of hardship. Grandma, you know, I didn't spend a penny on it."

But is it easy to find old newspapers from so many years ago?

He was only a few years old at the time, and the effort he put into collecting all of them and making this presentation was so great that it could not be measured in money.

In terms of giving gifts that touch the heart and pleasing people, ten Ji Duos probably can't catch up with his nephew. Xu Li was obviously very moved, with tears in her eyes.

Lin Qiao couldn't help but glance at the man, but found that his eyes were a little deep, and he was looking in the direction of Grandpa Ji. But Grandpa Ji didn't pay attention to this, and he looked at his grandson with a little relief.

Does this have anything to do with Master Ji?

As soon as Lin Qiao had this thought, Ye Minshu laughed and said, "I was wondering what this kid is busy with all day and doesn't even come home. It turns out he is doing this for you. He is close to whoever raised him. I remember the first time he called you mom when he was a kid, he followed the second child and called you mom."

How could a child tell who was the mother and who was the grandmother? Ji Duo called them every day, and Ji Ze was just learning to speak, so he learned it too.

She said this, obviously wanting to show off her son's achievements and to demonstrate their closeness. But she probably didn't even notice the sourness in her words.

Lin Qiao immediately thought of what happened at the dinner table last time. She didn't know whether her son knew that the other party was so eager to do this.

But Ye Minshu was obviously very honest today. She only said a few words, looked at Ji Jun, and didn't dare to mention it again.

Ever since she spread rumors about Ji Duo and Lin Qiao, Ji Jun was furious and hadn't been home for half a month, as if his Ren and Du meridians had been opened. Whenever she did something wrong, he would stay at her workplace, or take the initiative to apply for a business trip and not come back for days.

This time he hasn't been home for more than half a month. Fortunately, he had the excuse of his recent promotion. It can be said that he wanted to perform actively. It would be difficult to explain if he delayed any further.

Ye Minshu also wanted to use Xu Li's birthday to coax her husband, so she naturally didn't dare to rush into the gun. Xu Li was really happy, and didn't care what she said, hugged her grandson, "Grandma likes it very much, don't be so troublesome next time, grandma just knows that you have this intention."

"I'll do it to you again when you're over 100 years old." Ji Ze said sweetly.

Old Master Ji had been watching from the side. Seeing that the conversation was almost over, he said, "Let's eat. I think Xiaoling is hungry."

Actually, Ji Ling was not hungry at all. Many things become familiar the second time. She now roughly knew that her father ran away from home because her mother must have made her father angry again. After all, her father had such a good temper. When she was a child, she rode on his neck and pulled his hair, and broke his favorite teapot, but he didn't get angry.

It was not the place for the child to interfere in adult matters. Sometimes she couldn't stand staying at home, so she ran here, and Xu Li fed her so much that her face became even rounder.

She was chewing a piece of peach biscuit when the old man spoke. Upon hearing this, she immediately hid her greasy hands behind her and nodded, "Yes, yes, I'm hungry."

The key point is that the hands were hidden, but the biscuit crumbs at the corners of the mouth were not hidden. Lin Qiao couldn't help laughing when he saw it.

The family sat together and ate happily. After the meal, Lin Qiao handed two pieces of handmade soap wrapped in wax paper to the little girl and said, "Here, Auntie gave them to you."

"Really?" Ji Ling's eyes suddenly lit up.

"It's fake." Lin Qiao stretched out his hand, "Give it back to me, I don't want to give it to you anymore."

"That won't do. If you give it to me, it's mine!" Ji Ling ran away with the things in her arms.

Seeing her braid swaying, Lin Qiao smiled for a while before sitting next to Xu Li and talking to her. She and Ji Duo planned to stay here tonight and go back early tomorrow. Ji Ze would take their car back to the military area and would also stay at the old house for one night.

When they returned to the room at night, Ji Duo suddenly asked, "Do you like little girls?"

Lin Qiao was stunned for a moment before realizing that he was talking about Ji Ling. "Who wouldn't like her? Xiao Ling is so cute."

Ye Minshu's two children are not very similar to her, one is casual and outgoing, the other is eccentric. She is gentle and considerate, but she is also careful and considerate, and she always thinks more carefully. Ji Ling, on the other hand, is very clean-minded, and she instinctively has good intentions towards people and things.

Ji Duo said nothing more and picked up the mailbox that Xu Li had placed on the desk.

The thing was only about one foot square, and was wrapped very tightly with three layers inside and three layers outside. No one knew how long it took Ji Yan to send such a package back from abroad.

Lin Qiao watched the man unpacking the box and talked to him about what happened before, "Isn't there any place selling liquid soap?"

"I don't know." Ji Duo was busy with the work at hand and didn't even raise his head.

This surprised Lin Qiao. "Don't know?" But after thinking about it, he felt that it was not that difficult to understand.

Originally, it was women who paid more attention to this kind of daily necessities. He had been in the military camp for a long time, where a group of rough old men could wash their whole body with a bar of soap, and using perfumed soap was very particular, so it was possible that he didn't know.

If you have time, you can ask Xu Li or Aunt Zhang. Aunt Zhang must know about these.

Ji Duo was still aware of Lin Qiao's question. He put down the scissors and looked at her sideways, "Who did you learn this from?"

There are a lot of recipes on the Internet in her previous life, not to mention that she studied this. But these cannot be said. If it is not sold at this time, the answer must be more cautious.

Lin Qiao didn't look panicked at all. "I learned how to make soap from others. I modified the liquid soap myself. It's too hard to wash my hair or take a bath with solid soap."

The formula for solid soap is simple. There is a small soap factory in their county that produces long soap bars and sells them for 40 cents a piece. It is not that difficult to find out. The difficult part is the raw materials, how to make them, and how to change solids into liquids.

Lin Qiao acted calmly, and Ji Duo didn't see anything from her expression. He lowered his head and continued to open the mail package, not knowing whether he had received the letter or not.

There is no need to say more at this point. Explaining again and again will only make you seem guilty.

Lin Qiao also looked at the mailbag, and then saw the man take out an item from it... Uh...

She walked over and took the things in her hands. Not only the things, but also the parcel, and said, "Let me open it."

Ji Duo's hand still stopped in mid-air, and he couldn't help but glance at her, "What is it?"

"Women's clothing."

Lin Qiao really didn't expect that the good stuff that Ji Yan had mentioned to her several times turned out to be underwear. She even mailed more than one piece back, some with sponge pads, some without sponge pads, and some small vests suitable for sports, but the way they came out was a bit weird...

She decided to ignore the image of the light pink line hooked on Ji Duo's long finger, and quickly pulled out a few packages from under her underwear.

This time Lin Qiao smiled, surprised and relieved, because those packages were clearly the sanitary napkins she had missed not long ago.

Perhaps worried that she wouldn't know how to use it, Ji Yan had even slipped a note inside. Lin Qiao picked it up and took a look.

, which is no different from the ones that came later, "Our sister is such a good person."

She decisively gave Ji Yan the nice guy card and was about to put the things away when a small box at the bottom of the package fell out and rolled at Ji Duo's feet.

The box is not very big, and it is covered with foreign words. It looks like a medicine box or something.

Ji Duo leaned over and picked it up. After just one glance, his face darkened. Lin Qiao looked in the direction of the voice and even saw the man's jaw tighten, as if he was sneering.

"What's wrong?" she couldn't help but wonder.

"Nothing, no need to worry about it." Ji Duo tore off the paper on the outside of the box and flattened the box. Seeing that Lin Qiao was still looking at him, he glanced at the underwear that she had stuffed back into the bag, "Where did you wear it?"

Maybe it was because they had a closer contact, but Lin Qiao inexplicably sensed something unserious in his serious tone.

So she stopped stuffing her things and raised her eyebrows at the man, "Guess."

She probably didn't know that she looked quite alluring when she raised her chin and raised her eyelashes. Ji Duo subconsciously turned his face away, then quickly frowned and turned back, "Put it on and try it on."

He frowned seriously, and asked her to put it on for him to see...

Lin Qiao said that this man was definitely not a serious person at heart. How serious could a man who was a veteran cadre during the day but turned into a wolf when the lights were turned off at night be?

As she was not a person who followed the rules, she immediately picked up one and compared it to her chest, "Do you think this one looks good?" She picked up another one and said, "Or is this one good-looking?"

Even if he had only had some association before, after she compared it, Ji Duo could guess where it was worn.

Besides, she was smiling and looking at him. The man subconsciously stroked the paper box in his hand, his eyes darkened, "I'll go lock the door."

"Why lock the door? And you want me to change it now?"

Ji Duo didn't say anything, but from his expression, it was clear that this was what Lin Qiao thought.

Lin Qiao couldn't help laughing, and stuffed a few pieces of underwear back into the mail bag. "I wouldn't dare to do that, since you didn't bring anything."

It's funny to say that she didn't know because she was a native here, and Ji Duo, who was born and raised here, didn't even ask for clarification. When he found that there were not enough things, he went to the family planning department to ask, but they told him that these things had to be reused and asked him to wash them himself.

They just wasted five of them, and Captain Ji couldn't just rummage through the trash.

Today, because he came back to celebrate Xu Li's birthday, no one was thinking about those things, and he really didn't bring anything. Lin Qiao was just teasing him for fun.

Sure enough, those who look serious are the most interesting. If it were those who are full of dirty talk, if she dared to flirt with them, they would verbally scold her dozens of times first, and she would not be able to bear it.

The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to laugh. Before Lin Qiao finished packing his things, someone suddenly grabbed his waist and hugged him.

She didn't even have time to react. The man behind her grasped her with his big hand and turned her around. He had already put her on the desk, and his breath was so close to her that he said, "You did it on purpose."

It's an affirmative sentence, not a question.

Lin Qiao's legs were spread apart by his knees, and the inner thighs rubbed against his waist, which was a very dangerous posture. The man's hands were still on the table on both sides of her. She tried her best to lean back, but he still held her tightly in his arms, staring down at her.

"You did it on purpose." The man repeated it slowly but firmly, as if he was making a verdict.

How come Lin Qiao never thought that instead of saying dirty words, he would just do dirty things?

"There are footsteps outside. Is someone coming?" She decided to lure the tiger away from the mountain, make a feint to the east and attack in the west, and immediately lowered her voice.

However, the man was not fooled. Instead, he grabbed her waist when she tried to retreat and pulled her back. "I have trained my hearing."

This time, Lin Qiao didn't hold back and hit him directly, a traffic accident between the soft and the hard. And it wasn't a loss to both sides, at least the hard side was not injured, but became more powerful, ready to launch a more fierce attack on her at any time.

The man seemed to sense it as well and he lowered his eyes, holding her tighter.

Lin Qiao really didn't dare to move this time, but he still said stubbornly, "I'm serious, someone really came."

I don't know if the man was just trying to scare her, but this time he was silent for a moment and actually let her go. Lin Qiao was about to breathe a sigh of relief when there was a knock on the door. "Old Second, are you asleep?"

Someone actually came?!

Lin Qiao quickly slid down from the table, picked up the pile of things that the two of them had messed up, and stuffed them into the cabinet under the desk.

After plugging the bottle, Ji Duo quickly regained his cold and serious expression, and spoke again in his usual low voice, "Not yet."

The expression management is very good. If he didn't say it and Lin Qiao didn't say it, who would know that they were in that posture just now.

Xu Li outside obviously didn't know. Hearing this, she pushed the door open and said, "Your dad wants to talk to you about something. He wants you to go to the study."

Are you still going to the study so late?

Lin Qiao noticed that the man only tightened his jawline, but he didn't show any surprise. "Okay, I'll be there in a minute."

"Just a little while, your dad is waiting for you in the study..." Xu Li wanted to say something else, but when she looked up and saw Lin Qiao in the room, she paused and said, "Then hurry up."

After she closed the door, Ji Duo immediately turned around and kissed Lin Qiao hard on the lips, "Wait." He then straightened his clothes and went out.

Waiting, waiting for what?

Are you really waiting for him to come back to continue?

Lin Qiao took out the mail boxes that she had haphazardly stuffed into the cabinet and sorted them out one by one.

Ji Yan is such a good person. With the frequency of her previous menstruation, these sanitary napkins are enough for her to use for more than a year. She also asked her to try it out and not change it again.

The same goes for these bras. I guess Ji Yan said before that it was hard to buy them for her because she hadn't met her before. She didn't know her figure and was afraid that the size would be wrong.

After cleaning up, Lin Qiao inadvertently glanced at the mirror on the table and suddenly froze.

The light was not bright, but it could not hide the rouge color on the face of the beauty in the mirror. I don't know if it was because of the angle, but the tail of her upturned eyes was a little red, full of charm. It has been a while, if Xu Li had just seen her like this...

What's wrong with this body? Is it so obvious when it's teased?

Xu Li really saw it, so she quickly closed the door. As soon as she left the house, she whispered to her son, "Didn't I tell you to be careful? Isn't Qiao Qiao still young?"

Ji Duo heard this and looked at her inexplicably, "Not small anymore."

Although he didn't look closely when the light was on, whether it was measured by his big hands or the soft touch of skin pressed against hers, Lin Qiao was definitely not small. She had a more voluptuous figure, and if she had a little flesh, she would grow where it should.

Xu Li did not realize the unseriousness of her son under his serious appearance. "Isn't 19 still young? I heard that the Marriage Law will be amended, and men will be allowed to get married at the age of 22 and women at the age of 20."

This has indeed been proposed for a long time. After all, the age limit was initially set at 18 for women and 20 for men because the country had just been established and still needed people.

Later, the population grew too fast, especially in the decade from 1964 to 1973, and the population became a burden on the country. There was not enough food, and there were not enough jobs in the city, so the government encouraged young people to move to the vast countryside, and family planning was implemented.

In order to reduce the population burden, the legal marriage age will definitely be postponed, and Ji Duo does not find it surprising.

Seeing that he had arrived at the study, he pushed the door open and went in. When he looked up, he saw Old Master Ji sitting behind the desk, and Ji Ze standing opposite him.

The atmosphere was not tense, but before he came in, the two of them had obviously not spoken, and Ji Ze looked like he was waiting to be taught a lesson. He turned his head to look at his mother, and saw Xu Li waving her hands, "You guys talk, I can't stand it anymore." He returned to the main room and closed the door.

"Sit down." The old man looked at the chairs by the wall.

As soon as Ji Duo pulled up his trousers and sat down in the corner, the old man over there got straight to the point, "Did you know that this kid wants to go into business?"

Not only did Ji Duo know about this, he also knew that Ji Ze had put so much effort into preparing a birthday present for Xu Li. He also changed his usual practice of avoiding Lin Qiao and took the initiative to offer to take his car back to the troops tomorrow morning and stay at the old house for one night, just to take advantage of the old man's good mood today to bring up this matter.

He did not hide it, "I heard a little bit."

The old man looked at his grandson again, "So you've had this idea in mind for a long time, and you just waited to tell me today?"

"I didn't wait for today. I wanted to tell you before, but you got sick and were hospitalized, and... I really didn't find anyone.

to the opportunity.”

What else, the old man knows without me telling you.

He stroked the armrest of the chair. "Are you afraid that I will be angry with you because of Qiao Qiao's matter and refuse to agree, so you prepared a gift for your grandmother?"

This was a normal thing to say, but the way the old man looked at Ji Ze had changed from tonight's relief to one of inquiry and measurement.

It's okay for people to be selfish, but if this selfishness is to the point of exploiting even family ties in order to achieve one's goals, he would have to re-examine the character of this grandson.

Ji Ze was not stupid, he understood it immediately, and immediately showed some grievance on his face, "I started preparing after the Chinese New Year, and even asked Yu Jin and Chen Weiguo to collect newspapers for me. If you don't believe me, you can ask them. I wanted to give my grandma a special gift because she is sixty years old this year."

If he really had someone collect newspapers, he would have known all this by asking around, and it would have been difficult for him to lie.

The old man's expression eased a little, but his face was still stern. "What's wrong with your work? You can tell your family. Your uncle and I can help you think of a solution. If you really don't want to stay in the army anymore, you can go back to your hometown. Why do you suddenly want to do business?"

"Do you want to hear the truth?" Ji Ze looked at him.

The old man didn't say anything, and Ji Ze lowered his eyes, revealing some bitterness, "I'm actually not satisfied with everything. If I perform a little worse, even if it's just normal, there will be people who say I'm not good enough and can't catch up with my uncle. If I try to perform better, they will say I'm my uncle's nephew, which is normal."

Ji Duo was like a mountain blocking his way. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get over it.

"Wherever I go, I am called Ji Chunming's grandson and Ji Duo's nephew. I am even compared to my uncle because my name is similar to his."

In fact, when Ji Ze first joined the army, his family had planned to send him to a distant place to gain experience for a few years, just like Ji Duo, and then transfer him back after he had made a name for himself. However, Ye Minshu was reluctant to let her son go, and Ji Jun was also ambiguous about it, so they stuffed him into the unit where Ji Duo was.

I didn't expect that he could go home more often, but he was overwhelmed.

"You can say I'm useless or incapable of handling things, but I just don't want to be compared to others all the time."

Having said that, Ji Ze calmed down. "Besides, my uncle is ahead of me. No matter how hard I try, I can't get past him. I might as well change the track. Now that reform and opening up have taken place, the country strongly supports individuals to start businesses. Maybe this is more suitable for me."

At that time, the old man only wanted to win the battle and survive. Ji Duo had never been surpassed by others in any aspect since he was a child, and he never thought that he would have such pressure and self-esteem.

But when he said this, the bitterness and dejection on his face did disappear, and there was a bit more anticipation, just like when he first joined the army.

When he first joined the army, he patted his chest and said that he wanted to walk the same path as his grandfather and perform better than his uncle.

Grandpa Ji was silent, but Ji Duo suddenly leaned back in his chair and raised his head to look at him, his eyes deep and sharp, "If you just want to do business, you can just do it first and ask for permission later, and then come to apologize to your grandpa. You have to ask for your grandpa's consent first, don't you just want him to help you suppress your mother?"