Chapter 47 Your wife is so amazing at assigning jobs! ...
“There are three faucets in the house, which is convenient. The kitchen is also quite nice, the rooms are quite large, the balcony is good, and the room for the children is big enough. We can make a partition in the future so that the two brothers can live together.” As soon as Li Yaowei arrived at his distant cousin Li Jianzhi’s place, he immediately looked over the house that had been allocated to him.
This house is great, much better than the one he was allocated. Now the rule is that only officers of the deputy battalion level can be allocated housing with their spouses, and even then, the housing is the worst. Initially, it was a tile-roofed house, which was a bit bigger, but it didn't have a bathroom. The new apartment building is a one-bedroom, one-living room unit with no yard; the house is too small.
"Apartment buildings are much better than single-story houses and tile-roofed houses. In the past, we had to be allocated tile-roofed houses. People living in tile-roofed houses dreamed of moving to apartment buildings, even if the houses were smaller. Tile-roofed houses have a lot of snakes, insects, rats and ants. Snakes are relatively rare, but ants and rats are really annoying. Sometimes when you open a cabinet, there are rats urinating and defecating inside. A whole pile of rat droppings and urine is disgusting."
"There are fewer ants if you live upstairs. Otherwise, if you drop a few grains of rice on the floor after eating, the floor will be full of ants in no time. You also have to be careful when putting sugar in the room."
"Your newly built house shouldn't have rats and ants yet, but you'll have to be careful in a year or two."
...
"When we were kids, those rats were so arrogant. They were so small, yet you couldn't catch them. I remember when I was a kid, I was sleeping in bed and rats would dart around on the beam above my head, and they would stick their heads out and deliberately look at me. What were they looking at?"
Lai Yiu-wai couldn't help but reminisce about the past hardships and how good life was now. He emphasized how terrible his living conditions were in the past and how good life was now. He even stressed the hardships he had endured in the village before, just to scare Lai Kin-chi, the city girl from Shanghai.
Li Jianzhi: "Brother, why don't you tell me again about your encounter with the wild boar in winter?"
Qin Xiangxiang couldn't help but nod, and the chubby boy next to her also nodded. The three of them looked at Li Yaowei in unison.
Lai Yiu-wai: "I—" So they think he's some kind of opera singer.
Li Jianzhi was genuinely curious about what Li Yaowei was talking about. He had never lived in the countryside before, let alone experienced locust plagues or wild boars damaging the fields. The things Li Yaowei was saying sounded like stories from the older generation.
His story of "outsmarting the rat" is also very interesting.
Li Jianzhi once served in the South China Sea Fleet. The rats in the south are not cute at all, but the rats in the north, especially those in the northeast, are small. Apart from having dyed "gray fur," they are the same size as round hamsters, and have big, round, fan-shaped ears, somewhat like Jerry from Tom and Jerry.
Moreover, there was once an animated series called Black Cat Detective, in which One-Ear said he was going to the south to find his uncle... Given the size difference between the north and south, no wonder the mouse wanted to go to the south to find his uncle.
In her dream, Qin Xiangxiang heard Li Yaowei tell a long story about how hard and tiring life was. But after hearing it so many times, it didn't really matter. Life was better now, so what if she really went back to her hometown with Li Jianzhi? Besides, their hometown wasn't in bad shape now; the Northeast was one of the better-developed regions.
She'll probably be back in Shanghai in two years, so she won't be scared by what Li Yaowei said. Besides, her life is pretty boring these days, so it's nice to hear about the hardships her husband and fellow townsman are going through.
Actually, she was very curious about what kind of environment had shaped her husband into the "phoenix man" who now buys three of the largest chocolates at once.
Qin Xiangxiang asked Li Jianzhi, "Did you sleep with mice when you were a child?"
Li Jianzhi shook his head in confusion: "..."
Qin Xiangxiang: "What if the rats in your hometown knew you bought three large chocolate bars?"
Li Jianzhi: "???"
Lai Yiu-wai: "???" Three chocolates!
"Then it might also want to come to the south to find its uncle."
Qin Xiangxiang: "???"
The chubby boy asked curiously, "Dad, why did the mouse come south to find Uncle?"
"Southern rats are relatively large."
Lai Yiu-wai picked up his chubby nephew and weighed him in his hands, exclaiming, "My nephew from the South is really big!"
"You've raised this kid too well."
"If the elders in the village saw this, they would all say it was Jinbao'er."
Li Jianzhi remained noncommittal about Li Yaowei's words. Although Li Yaowei claimed to be his elder brother, in Li Jianzhi's mind, his thoughts and words belonged to the grandfather's generation, and he was already quite old when he spoke.
They're kind-hearted people, even offering to help with chores. Plus, they're from the same hometown; having more friends means having more options.
"Brother Jianzhi, congratulations! You've finally brought your wife here. I can hardly believe you actually brought your wife from Shanghai to the island. My wife is still working in Mingzhou, so we rarely see each other. It's hard on her, always traveling back and forth. Luckily, she's a teacher and has a lot of holidays, so she can come back by boat whenever she has time."
Lai Yiu-wai's current wife is considered to be with him while he is with the military, but they are also in a state of separation. One of them lives on the island, and the other lives in Minneapolis. They travel back and forth between the two places by boat. His wife is the daughter of a fisherman and is used to traveling by boat since she was a child, so she doesn't mind this.
The military is more considerate of soldiers with family members. Officers with families can more easily take leave and have some free time each week to take care of their families. Other officers without families, on the other hand, have to be on standby at all times and give their leave opportunities to men with families.
Marrying a soldier is a hardship for the family, especially for women who already have jobs and come from well-off families. However, if the family is already living in a rural area with a difficult life, it is naturally better for them to marry the soldier, as it provides care for both the soldier and the woman's family and children.
It was precisely because Li Yaowei had family members that he was able to come and join in the fun with his fellow villager Li Jianzhi when he had some free time.
Li Jianzhi said modestly, "It's because I thought she was considerate of me and let her come to the island with the army. She's been wronged."
Qin Xiangxiang nodded secretly. Yes, this man should always feel guilty towards her.
Lai Yiu-wai advised, "Based on my experience, you need to find a way to arrange a job for your younger brother and sister-in-law as soon as possible. Jobs are hard to find on the island now, and there are always quotas for family members to be assigned."
"Women from the city who come with the army can't stand being without work. If it goes on for too long, they'll definitely cause trouble."
"You must never be like those bastards who, for the sake of saving face, push the work that should be arranged for their wives onto other family members."
Qin Xiangxiang: "???"
"However, the jobs assigned to military spouses are not very good, because I'm afraid their younger siblings can't handle them." The environment on the island is harsh, and there are very few jobs suitable for women. Families are in dire straits, which is why women are sent out to earn that hard-earned money. As for easy jobs, they are usually just doing odd jobs. Some are arranged to take a leisurely position in a public institution, which is considered a benefit for military spouses.
However, many organizations have some problematic leaders, especially those seemingly easy and relaxed units. These units are forced to accept some military dependents for resettlement, thus taking up valuable positions. So they find ways to make things difficult for people, deliberately finding fault with their work, or making them wipe things over and over again, and so on, publicly humiliating them. If a woman has a poor family background and thick skin, she can endure it. If she can't, she will make a scene, and then people will say that her attitude is not proper and that making trouble will affect her husband. As a result, some female dependents say that they are quitting this job and will go home to take care of their children.
Therefore, for the woman, becoming a teacher is actually a better choice at this time. Although the child is a bit naughty, it's okay to scold a naughty child as you please. At least she won't be tormented by the boss. Being harassed by the boss is something that leaves her with a belly full of bitterness and grievances with nowhere to vent.
If Li Jianzhi tries to arrange a job for his wife, the couple will definitely argue.
Li Yaowei was somewhat gloating, wanting to see the couple argue. He felt that Li Jianzhi had had too smooth a life, unlike him who had struggled his way up. Moreover, he married a woman from a big city right away, and his son had a Shanghai hukou (household registration) from birth, which was truly enviable.
“I don’t have to worry about my wife’s job at all.” Li Jianzhi got excited when talking about his wife’s job. He tried to keep his expression steady and said calmly, “Take your time looking, no rush.”
However, the desire to show off his wife was stirring within him.
Lai Yiu-wai: "?"
"Our family has made a great sacrifice to come here with the army this time. The foreman at her factory said that with her abilities, she could become a workshop director in the future, and maybe even the factory manager! My mother-in-law is probably going to be promoted soon at the factory too. Like mother, like daughter. This is a case of women not being inferior to men."
Lai Yiu-wai was shocked: "Your wife is so amazing!"
Workshop director? Factory manager? In a large state-owned factory in Northeast China, that would be a source of immense pride for the entire family.
Qin Xiangxiang: "???" You damn man!!! What are you saying!
“When I took her to the factory to apply for a leave of absence, the factory director tried his best to persuade her. The director of the Mingzhou State-owned Textile Factory even called me personally, wanting my wife to come and work there. However, we still refused. We felt sorry for her having to travel back and forth between the two places.”
Lai Yiu-wai was stunned; his fellow villager had actually married such a remarkable woman from the big city.
"So I am very grateful for her contributions. My wife is very good to me, very gentle and virtuous, and very understanding."
Lai Yiu-wai was a bit speechless, thinking to himself, "You've said everything I said." He thought about taking out a cigarette from his pocket and having a smoke, thinking, "I really don't believe it."
Arguments are inevitable for any couple. Especially after marrying a city woman, it takes a long time to adjust. When he and his wife first moved in together after their marriage, they argued countless times. It wasn't until they had a child that things improved and they were able to make it work together.
Most women are still vain. They want to buy pretty dresses, and they want to buy unnecessary face creams and clam oils. One or two pairs of leather shoes are enough, but they always waste money to buy two more pairs, and they can't help but make new clothes.
Li Jianzhi would eventually find these trivial matters in life unbearable, and the couple would have plenty of arguments.
Qin Xiangxiang, who was standing to the side, couldn't help herself and reached out to pinch the ear of a certain smug man. Heaven knows that she had finally managed to forget about the textile factory, and now he was bringing up the workshop director and factory manager again.
"Think about it, it hurts!"
"Li Jianzhi, stop spouting nonsense!"
"Don't be angry, I'll cook you something delicious later."
"Who would want to eat the pig feed you cooked?" Qin Xiangxiang laughed in exasperation. "Li Jianzhi, you have to rub it for me later."
"good."
Lai Yiu-wai discovered that this young couple's relationship... was actually pretty good?? That's impossible!!
The new family members have just arrived with the military, so there will definitely be some conflicts. Let's check back in a few days when we have the family-warming meal.
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